CBS cancels The Late Show franchise after 32 years, Colbert iteration to end next year
From Variety:
“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.”
It is interesting timing considering a merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media will require approval from the Trump administration FCC. Paramount settled a US$16m lawsuit with Trump earlier this month. At the start of this week, after a few weeks off-air, Colbert called the settlement with Trump a "big fat bribe".
Colbert's Late Show has been the top-rating Late Night talk show for most of its run. In its 11:35pm timeslot it recently beat 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' and 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'. In Q2 2025 Fallon had an average audience of 1.1 million, Kimmel 1.7 million and Colbert almost double at 2.4 million viewers.
CBS show 60 Minutes also saw major departures before and after the settlement, which Paramount-owned Comedy Central show 'The Daily Show' covered last week.
Sean Burch
These shows are institutions of traditional TV and are still huge operations to run each night, offering valuable entry points into the entertainment industry. It is interesting to think about whether CBS could have cut costs for the show in other ways before deciding to cancel it entirely.
