Stephen Colbert’s show cancelled, American network to retire late-night format

Stephen Colbert’s late night show has been cancelled and its American TV network, CBS, will retire the format completely.

Colbert’s final episode will be in May, at the end of the next American broadcast season, putting an end to a program that launched in 1993 with David Letterman at the helm. In the show’s history, Letterman and Colbert have been the only permanent hosts.

Colbert, who has been doing the show for 10 years, told the audience of his pre-taped episode today, and said he only found out himself last night. In the clip posted to social media, when he made the announcement, the studio audience reacted with loud boo-ing.

“I share your feelings,” he told them. “It’s not just the end of our show, it’s the end of The Late Show on CBS. I’m not being replaced, this is all just going away.”

He went on to thank CBS, the audience, and his team. “I’m extraordinarily, deeply grateful to the 200 people who work here.

“It is a fantastic job, I wish someone else was getting it.”

In a statement, Paramount and CBS was adamant the call to end the show was “purely a financial decision” and was unrelated to its “performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount”.

According to Puck, The Late Show was losing approximately $US40 million a year.

The press release could also be seen as a way to tamp down the inevitable questions of if the political nature of Colbert’s program, on which Donald Trump is a frequent target, played a role in the decision at a time when American media companies are seemingly trying to minimise antagonising the current administration.

Colbert has been mocking right-wing politicians since his earlier satirical program, The Colbert Report, which aired on Comedy Central, also owned by Paramount, which ran from 2005 to 2014.

There is also the pending multi-billion dollar merger between Paramount Global and Skydance, which needs approval from the Trump-controlled Federal Communications Commission, which has been held up for months.

Mr Trump’s lawsuit against CBS’s 60 Minutes over what it alleged was “favourable” coverage of his presidential rival, former vice president Kamala Harris, was recently settled for $US16 million. The legal action was widely seen as an obstacle to FCC approval.

Colbert was among the many people who were critical of the settlement. On his show earlier this week, he called it a “big fat bribe”.

“I am offended,” he said in his opening monologue. “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.”

He even joked about his future job security.

Colbert’s stablemate, Jon Stewart, had also taken aim at the settlement on the Paramount-owned The Daily Show. Stewart said earlier this month, “I’m obviously not a lawyer, but I did watch Goodfellas. That sounds illegal.”

After a report last week that The Daily Show or Stewart could be canned by Skydance after the merger, Stewart responded on the program’s associated podcast, “They haven’t called me and said, like, ‘Don’t get too comfortable in that office, Stewart’. But let me tell you something, I’ve been kicked out of sh-ttier establishments than that.

“We’ll land on our feet.”

Since Stewart’s return to The Daily Show for one night every week, the series has hit a ratings high not seen for a decade.

Like many broadcast TV formats, American late-night shows have been struggling for many years, although Colbert has been leading his two major rivals, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live and NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Ratings have been in decline although the shows all have robust social media and YouTube numbers.

In 2023, CBS replaced The Late Late Show, which aired after Colbert’s program, when James Corden departed with After Midnight, a panel format hosted by the younger Taylor Tomlinson, but it only lasted two seasons and was axed earlier this year.