Carson Daly On NBC's Shake-Ups, Life After MTV and Reinventing Late Night

Why did you decide to ditch the studio audience completely?

That was born out of the idea that as soon as I would finish an episode of Last Call (before the change in format) -- a traditional show with a desk where I would say, "Hey Julie, how's it working at Movieline? How's your summer?" -- whenever I would get off the air, my discussion backstage with the guests, to me, seemed more interesting than the forced discussion that happened on the air. So now, the show has that casual feel, where now, I just go have a beer with Matthew McConaughey and he tells me a great story about his dad dying while having sex with his mother. Things that just don't happen in a studio audience with strangers.

Wow. Do you miss the audience's energy ever though?

No. There was a great energy to that, but no. I just think our show is so much better served shot in the real world and produced the way that we do it now. We are just really excited about the new format. It's a lot more organic for me, and it's much more comfortable.

You have been at NBC for over eight years. What do you know now about late night that you didn't when you first started?

Oh my God. Wow, well I can't believe it's been this long. Everyone knows that talk shows are not easy to keep going. I am really fortunate that I have been on the air this long, and I am really fortunate and thankful to NBC for sticking with me because I have sort of grown up over the past 10 years. I'm trying to find my life after MTV, find a profession for myself at a major network, and they have allowed me that. The show airs late, but they allowed me to make mistakes, and where else in television or film or music or the arts can you just be on a major network and change so much and evolve and finally stumble upon a product that feels right and that everyone reacts well to and then just keep doing it? It doesn't happen very often. People get canceled every day.

Well, what does longevity mean to you? Do you still want to be hosting a television show 10 years from now?

I don't know. I never would have thought... I just can't believe it's been 10 years. If I am doing what I am doing now in 10 years, I will be thrilled. The New Year's Eve show is a ton of fun to do at NBC. We have done really well with that. It's a growing franchise. The world has changed so much in the last few years in the way that content is created and the things are watched so that being on at 1:30 in the morning doesn't bother me as much as it once did. Everybody tapes TV shows anyway. I follow Friday Night Lights wherever it goes. To [the 101 Network on] Direct TV -- I didn't even know what that network was, but I just set my TiVo for that. I watch AMC. If the programming is good, people find it no matter what time it's scheduled. So I hope I am just making a good product that people can find.

Do you think that the confluence of television and the Internet is a threat to the future of television? Do you think that personalities like yourself will be able to emerge from the Internet to establish themselves and gain the trust of an audience like you have?

Well, you know, time will tell. In music, we're seeing it. We are beginning to see people break off the Internet like the young Justin Bieber, whereas, for me 10 years ago, when I was at MTV, big pop acts like 'N Sync had to break in Europe and travel to earn their chops in a different way than this kid, who broke from YouTube, did. Another young girl who broke off of YouTube is an artist from the Philippines named Charice [Pempengco], who I play on my morning radio show. Again, that's sort of the do-it-yourself mentality. As far as television hosts go, the Internet is still a big place, and a trusted source that helps to filter out a lot of the crap. The Internet is only getting bigger and better, and it's more of a trusted place every day, so I am glad.

I am happy that I came up through radio and traditional media, but do I think late-show hosts can break from the Internet? Absolutely.

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