Editorial: Stephen Colbert roasted bosses and took risks. Bravo. (Chicago Tribune)

[ificandream]

Stephen Colbert in rehearsals on the set of “The Late Show,” in Manhattan on April 4, 2017. (Chad Batka/The New York Times)

Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, did its best to preempt the angst over its canceling of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” saying from the start that this was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”

It’s incontrovertible that the late-night network audience is declining and aging as younger viewers increasingly get their comedy content from TikTok,YouTube and the like. These days, most people watch Colbert and his wee-hour colleagues in sliced bites posted later on social media.

Reuters reported that advertising revenue for Colbert’s show has dropped 40% since 2018 (down from $121.1 million in 2018 to just $70.2 million last year) as his audience has declined. More significantly, the news service also cited an internal source saying the costly show has been losing $40 million a year, hardly ideal for a company in business to make a profit. And it’s not like CBS sudden pulled the plug to de-platform a pesky host: Colbert’s show has 10 more months to run and he’ll go out a hero to the left.

Still, many progressives, including some political leaders, saw a nefarious motive and a brazen attempt to silence an outspoken liberal voice. Today’s late-night hosts don’t gently rib their bosses in the Johnny Carson or David Letterman modes; they castigate them. Just a few days ago, Colbert criticized the $16 million financial settlement between President Donald Trump and Paramount over a CBS “60 Minutes” story, saying, “I don’t know if anything — anything — will repair my trust in this company. But, just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help.”

Read more: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/07/21/editorial-stephen-colbert-cbs-donald-trump-late-night/

[yellow dahlia]

1. His segment last night about the FCC and Brandon Carr and CBS caving was brilliant!

[Ocelot II]

2. His show has only three months left (5/21). He must have decided to go out in a blaze of glory.

Bravo!