We don’t hold wakes when cultural art forms die. But if we did, we’d have to start planning a big one for “Sabado Gigante,” whose 53 years on air make it the longest-running variety show in television history. The recent announcement that the program will stop running in September marks the end of a once dominant form of entertainment.

“Sabado Gigante” began as a Latin American homage to vaudeville, an even older style of comedy. This connection to the seemingly distant past may be why the end is nigh for “Sabado Gigante” and the career of its 74-year-old-host, Don Francisco (whose real name is Mario Kreutzberger).

“Sabado Gigante,” which debuted in Chile in 1962 and is now produced in the U.S. by Univision, still pulls in good ratings. The show is the top-rated Spanish-language Saturday night program in the U.S., reaching about 2 million viewers. Syndicated to 40 countries, “Sabado Gigante” has been a ubiquitous presence throughout Latin America. But the managers of Univision are focused on the future. The show’s core demographic is aging. According to the latest ratings, the program reaches only 307,000 viewers in the coveted 18-to-34 age bracket, and the show has lost about 30 percent of its audience in the past six years.

If you’re like me, a television viewer who is 54 or older, you know that only a few companies want to reach us — the ones hawking insurance and Cialis. In commercial television, the younger demo matters, much more than total viewers. And although “Sabado Gigante” has been a constant presence on my various tours of Latin America, it is pitched at a generation older than mine. Frankly, it is miraculous that it survived this long. Perhaps Don Francisco’s fans were praying novenas asking for divine intercession for the program.

When I think of “Sabado Gigante,” I think of my uncle, who was a fan of the program. Perhaps it is no coincidence that he died a few months ago. The cruel reality is that you can’t do much to save a program whose main demographic is shrinking because of mortality.

