What Killed 'The Late Show'?

The Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

Daily News, Business News, News

4.2 • 5.3K Ratings

🗓️ 25 July 2025

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Last week, CBS cancelled “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” The network said that ending the show was “purely a financial decision.” Over the years, late-night audiences and profits have dwindled. But some fans have suggested the move was partly political: CBS pulled the plug just days after Colbert criticized Paramount, CBS’s parent company, for agreeing to settle a lawsuit with President Trump for $16 million. WSJ’s Joe Flint delves into the controversy and the economics of late-night TV. Annie Minoff hosts. Further Listening: -Will Paramount Settle With Trump? -Why Buying Paramount Global Won't Be Easy -’Love Is Blind' Is Back. Not All the Drama Is On-Screen. Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Last week, fans of late night television got some bad news.
0:09.6	Before we start the show, I want to let you know something that I found out just last night.
0:14.2	Next year will be our last season.
0:19.3	CBS was canceling the late show with Stephen Colbert.
0:23.6	Our colleague Joe Flint covers the media.
0:26.6	Stephen Colbert announced to his audience that his show would be ending when his contract expires next May, May of 2026.
0:35.6	The audience was very, you know, booing in cat calls and not happy about it.
0:40.3	And he basically said, I'm right there with you.
0:42.3	And he said, all this is going away, meaning the late night business.
0:46.3	Yeah, I share your feelings.
0:48.3	It's not just the end of our show, but it's the end of the late show on CBS.
0:53.3	I'm not being replaced.
0:54.7	This is all just going away.
0:57.1	In a statement, CBS said the move to cancel the late show was, quote, purely a financial
1:02.2	decision.
1:03.4	And Joe says that the finances of late night are tough.
1:07.3	We've been hearing for a long time about the challenges in late-night television.
1:11.4	Audiences are smaller, ad revenue is down.
1:14.9	These are issues affecting a lot of shows.
1:19.1	But the idea that the number one-rated late-night show in Colbert would be just have the plug pulled out.
1:26.9	And not just him. CBS is getting out of the late-night
1:29.7	business. So it's not like we're ending the Colbert show to go with a cheaper option. We're just done
	...

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