CBS is ending ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ next year

Stephen Colbert poses with the award for outstanding variety special (live) for "Stephen Colbert's Election Night 2020: Democracy's Last Stand Building Back America Great Again Better 2020" at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021, at L.A. Live in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

In a shocking move, CBS is ending “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” next year, and apparently exiting the late-night television business altogether.

The network, citing financial pressures, said the cancellation will take effect in May 2026, the normal end of the broadcast TV season.

The decision is particularly surprising because “The Late Show” is typically the highest-rated show in late-night. And the timing is bound to raise questions because it comes just two weeks after the parent company of CBS, Paramount, settled a lawsuit lodged by President Trump against CBS News.

The settlement – and Paramount’s pending merger with Skydance Media – spurred speculation about Colbert’s future at CBS. Colbert, after all, is one of the staunchest critics of Trump on television.

Colbert alluded to the online worrying about his fate when he returned from vacation on Monday night. He condemned the Paramount settlement on air, likening it to a “big fat bribe,” and he joked that his new mustache would protect him from the corporation: “Okay, okay, but how are they going to put pressure on Stephen Colbert… if they can’t find him?”

CBS, however, said in a statement that “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.”

The corporate financial pressures are real; Paramount laid off another 3.5 percent of its workforce just last month.

Due to plunging ad revenue, “The Late Show” is no longer profitable, according to a source close to the network.

Still, the Colbert news was head-spinning in the TV world, as evidenced by the heartbroken reactions from fans on the show’s Instagram page. One of the most-favorited comments said “this is crazy.”

Colbert shared the news at his show taping on Thursday evening. He gave no indication that it was his decision; to the contrary, he said he found out about the network’s decision “last night.”

“Next year will be our last season,” Colbert said as audible ‘boos’ were heard in the studio audience. “The network will be ending our show in May,” he said. “It’s the end of ‘The Late Show’ on CBS,” he added, going on to say, “This is all just going away.”

Some observers immediately raised concerns about Paramount’s motivation, including Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, who happened to be Colbert’s guest on Thursday.

“Just finished taping with Stephen Colbert who announced his show was cancelled,” Schiff wrote on X. “If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.”

“I do want to say that the folks at CBS have been great partners,” Colbert said. “I’m so grateful to the Tiffany network for giving me this chair and this beautiful theater to call home. And of course, I’m grateful to you, the audience, who have joined us every night in here, out there, all around the world.”

End of an era

“The Late Show” franchise has been a cornerstone of the CBS lineup for more than thirty years.

Founding host David Letterman built the show into a beloved brand in the 1990s with his Top Ten lists and “Stupid Human Tricks.” He handed off to Colbert in 2015, who further energized the time slot with sharp-edged political humor.

Colbert had a long history with the company now known as Paramount: He had a celebrated stint on “The Daily Show,” on the company’s Comedy Central cable channel, as a writer and correspondent, and then launched a satirical spinoff titled “The Colbert Report.”

Trump’s election in 2016 changed the trajectory of Colbert’s version of “The Late Show.” Colbert broke out from the late-night pack as his harsh criticism of Trump galvanized viewers, giving CBS its biggest late-night ratings victory in two decades.

Colbert has remained a vocal and animated critic during Trump’s second term, even as his parent company tried to strike a settlement deal to end Trump’s lawsuit over CBS News, which legal experts said was meritless all along.

The end of Colbert’s show will surely raise concerns about his friend and producing colleague Jon Stewart, who hosts a weekly edition of “The Daily Show.”

CNN has reached out to representatives for Stewart and Letterman for comment.

In his on-air announcement Thursday, Colbert referenced the fact that the show is ending altogether instead of remaining a powerful broadcast platform for comics. “I wish somebody else was getting it,” he said.

The network previously ended James Corden’s “Late Late Show” in 2023. At the time, executives said that 12:35 a.m. show had become unprofitable for CBS.

Colbert helped produce a much less expensive replacement show, “After Midnight.” That show ended earlier this year, but CBS said it wrapped because the host, Taylor Tomlinson, did not want to helm another season, not because of financial considerations.

Bill Carter, the author of two best-selling books about the late-night wars, said Thursday night that “the financial side of that business has definitely been under pressure.”

“But if CBS believes it can escape without some serious questions about capitulating to Trump, they are seriously deluded,” Carter said.

This story has been updated with additional developments and context.

By Brian Stelter and Dan Heching.