CBS ending “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” is – Business News
CBS brass say they pulled the plug on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” as a result of of its punishing losses — pegged between $40 million and $50 million a yr — and declare politics had nothing to do with it, The Post has realized.
The 61-year-old host acquired canned simply days after he took a dig on the Tiffany Network over its $16 million settlement with Donald Trump over a controversial “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris because the community’s mum or dad Paramount negotiates with the Trump administration regulatory approval for its $8 billion sale to unbiased studio Skydance.
“I am offended, and I don’t know if anything will ever repair my trust in this company,” Colbert stated of the truce in his Monday evening monologue.
Stephen Colbert broadcasts the cancellation Of “The Late Show.” The Late Show with Stephen Colb
“But just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help.”
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‘Gets no advertising’
But scathing jokes on the expense of CBS brass wasn’t the issue, in accordance with insiders.
Instead, the community’s bosses may no longer abdomen the truth that Colbert has been plagued with an more and more dire scarcity of advertisers.
That’s regardless of Colbert’s No, 1 scores in his time slot and his standing as a key face for the Tiffany Network.
In the top, Paramount’s co-CEO George Cheeks determined to kill the show, sources stated.
“Colbert gets no advertising and late night is a tough spot,” stated a individual with direct data of CBS’s determination.
“Colbert might be No. 1, but who watches late night TV anymore?”
Some Democrats voiced suspicion, citing the host’s left-wing leanings and CBS proprietor Paramount’s pressing need to gain an OK from the Trump administration for the merger with Skydance, the Hollywood studio behind the “Mission: Impossible” franchise.
People stroll previous the Ed Sullivan Theater, the place “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” is taped, in New York. AP
“CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump — a deal that looks like bribery,” lefty Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote on X.
“America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.”
Skydance CEO David Ellison is the son of Donald Trump pal and tech billionaire Larry Ellison.
As The Post first reported, CBS simply paid $16 million to Trump and has agreed to run thousands and thousands of {dollars} more in MAGA-friendly adverts to settle the president’s lawsuit alleging that “60 Minutes” deceptively edited its 2024 interview with Kamala Harris to make her look higher.
Trump, in the meantime, celebrated Colbert’s canning in a Friday morning post on Truth Social.
“I absolutely love that Colbert got fired,” the president wrote.
Stephen Colbert arrives for the Saturday Night Live 50: The Anniversary Special at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, U.S., February 16, 2025. REUTERS
“His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!”
Fervent denials
But regardless of Ellison’s Trump ties, sources stated Skydance and its companions at Redbird Capital — the non-public equity firm that may help run CBS as soon as the deal is cleared — solely heard the information of the show’s impending cancellation simply earlier than it was introduced late Thursday.
“Skydance had nothing to do with this,” one individual close to the choice stated.
“Colbert loses $40 million to $50 million a year, so George Cheeks just decided to pull the plug.”
The show’s dominance in its time slot belies sharp declines in viewership as youthful viewers transfer away from conventional TV.
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“The Late Show” boasts practically 2 million whole viewers and 200,000 viewers in the important thing 25-24 “demo” — making it No. 1 in its time slot.
Nevertheless, that’s a sharp decline versus the numbers it racked up in its heyday.
The advert information firm Guideline estimates that CBS’s late-night exhibits collectively drew $220 million in advert income in 2024 — simply half the $439 million they drew in 2018.
RedBird’s Jeff Shell, the previous head of NBCUniversal who will run the community as soon as the deal is performed, has been crunching the numbers and discovering that CBS is a “melting ice cube” with its losses and price overruns, a source stated.
The Ed Sullivan Theater, the place the ‘Late Show” is recorded reside, stands in midtown Manhattan on July 18, 2025, in New York City. Getty Images
‘Truth-based’ flip
The plan is to boost CBS Sports and invest in “truth-based” information at a community that conservatives have long ripped for its alleged liberal bias.
A Paramount spokesman declined to remark and wouldn’t deny that large losses had been tied to the show’s cancellation.
Trump’s lawsuit was impeding the approval of the deal by the Trump Federal Communications Commission.
The Post has realized that Ellison is now telling people that with the lawsuit settled the Skydance-Paramount deal will get FCC approval by mid-August.
While Ellison is predicting imminent regulatory approval, it should come at a value: FCC chairman Brendan Carr is more likely to demand situations to treatment what he believes is left-wing information bias in programming that violates company “public interest” guidelines that govern native broadcasting versus cable.
