Stephen Colbert and me: How late-night partisan comedy works – until it doesn’t

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to End After Paramount Announces Cancellation; Byron Allen Set to Take Over

Ed Sullivan Theatre, New York City – The 23‑year run of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will conclude following an abrupt announcement by Paramount Global on Sunday. The network, which had signed the show to a long‑term contract in 2023, will be replaced by comedian Byron Allen, who has agreed to a multi‑million‑dollar deal to host a prerecorded program in the 11:35 p.m. slot.

Paramount’s decision

The decision came a week after Paramount Global completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. According to industry sources, Paramount’s new leadership chose to cancel the show without consulting CBS executives or Stephen Colbert, the host. The move was described by the former president of CBS Television Network as a “political retaliation,” citing a $16 million settlement paid to the former President Donald Trump in a lawsuit over an edited segment on 60 Minutes.

The Trump campaign released a statement praising the cancellation, with a spokesperson saying “I absolutely love” the move. Colbert, meanwhile, has publicly criticized CBS for what he said was a “big fat bribe” and has accused the network of supporting Trump’s interests.

Colbert’s tenure at CBS

Colbert joined CBS in 2015 to host The Late Show, after a 12‑year run on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report. He brought a high‑profile audience and a reputation for overtly partisan commentary, particularly against President Trump, whom he described as “the Antichrist” in a joke on the show. In 2021 he hired Chris Licht, former Morning Joe producer, which marked a shift to more overt political content.

Ratings for The Late Show have hovered around 2.5 million viewers in recent quarters, putting it in the middle of the late‑night landscape. In contrast, the network’s early‑career rival Jay Leno averaged 5‑6 million viewers at his peak, while Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon drew similar numbers. CBS executives have cited the show’s “tens of millions of dollars in annual losses” as a primary factor in the decision to move forward with a different format.

Colbert’s health has occasionally drawn attention; he has a form of vertigo and was hospitalized on a taping after a ruptured appendix.

The final episode

The final broadcast aired at 11:35 p.m. on Tuesday, featuring a roster of high‑profile guests that included Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, Julia Louis‑Dreyfus, Jon Stewart, Steven Spielberg, Bruce Springsteen and former Late Show host David Letterman. Letterman was part of a staged finale that involved throwing furniture off the theater roof to smash a replica of the CBS eye logo.

Following the final episode, CBS aired reruns of The Late Show for a period of time, while the 11:35 p.m. timeslot was taken over by a program starring Byron Allen. Allen, a comedian and media entrepreneur, has pledged to keep his show “politically neutral,” and is reportedly paying CBS several million dollars per year for the airtime.

Industry reactions

The late‑night community has been quick to respond. Colbert’s former rivals Kimmel and Fallon aired reruns of their own shows on the network to maintain audience attention during the transition. Industry analysts point out that the move reflects broader shifts in late‑night television, where long‑form live shows are increasingly outpaced by on‑demand streaming, podcasts and social‑media content.

CBS’s executive vice president of programming said that the network “values our legacy in late‑night comedy and remains committed to delivering compelling, high‑quality programming to our viewers.”

Looking ahead

With the departure of Stephen Colbert, the future of the 11:35 p.m. slot remains a bellwether for the viability of traditional late‑night talk shows in an era of fragmented audiences and digital competition. The arrival of Byron Allen’s pre‑recorded format will test whether a politically neutral, high‑production show can sustain viewership in a crowded media landscape.

For now, the final episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert stands as a farewell to a show that, over its 23‑year run, blended satire, politics and pop‑culture in a way that defined a generation of late‑night television.