Brian Steinberg: CBS to Cancel ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ Citing ‘Financial Decision’

“We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire ‘The Late Show’ franchise” in May of 2026, CBS executives said in a statement. “We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television. This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”

My first reaction to hearing this news was surprise, but it started to make a little more sense when I head it was the show ending, not that Colbert (who is routinely the most-viewed late night host) was getting the boot to make room for someone else. Obviously late night shows aren't what they used to be, and I would put money on their audience getting older on average every year.

But just because I wasn't surprised to see CBS potentially giving up on the format, that doesn't mean I think it's the right decision. Colbert is a big name and a great comedic talent, so it's a shame to just give up. Obviously YouTube channels and podcasts have taken over some of the jobs that late night shows had done for years, but Colbert's YouTube game is pretty strong. The show has 10 million subscribers and his monologues average about 2 million views within a day or two of premiering on YouTube (just a couple hours after airing on CBS).

Anyway, the Variety article also mentions this:

Colbert will next year wind up a colorful run. When he took over “Late Show” in 2015, he had to navigate a new role. He was no longer the bloviating conservative character he portrayed on Comedy Central. He had to instead find ways to be his authentic self, even though he had not revealed such a persona to the public in the past.

It's hard to remember, but back in 2015 when he was announced as the new host, basically no one had seen him be anything besides his character on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.