In an unexpected move, CBS has announced the cancellation of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” This decision will not go into effect until May 2026. The show, which began airing in 2015, has become a staple of late-night television, consistently leading ratings among its competitors. With financial pressures and the upcoming CBS/Paramount/Skydance merger, CBS executives have decided that enough is enough and made this massive decision.
The show’s creative engine as ever since the show’s inception, Stephen Colbert. In the second quarter of 2025, he still managed to lure a massive average of 2.42 million viewers. Behind the successful and wildly popular show, lies deep financial trouble. It’s accumulating annual losses of around $40 million and it still costs about $100 million to make. The fiscal prudence of investing in high-cost, low-revenue late-night programming deserves serious scrutiny. Many are asking whether it can be sustainable in a modern media environment.
The cancellation follows closely on the heels of CBS’ own recent decision to cancel “After Midnight.” That late-night show was short lived—it lasted just two years. As CBS navigates the complexities of the media industry, including a pending $8 billion merger with Skydance, the network faces mounting pressure to reassess its content strategy.
Financial Challenges Loom
Financial viability has become a contentious stickler for CBS especially in the field of late-night TV. The network’s decision to pull the plug on “The Late Show” speaks to larger challenges that some believe could derail the entire industry as well.
In fact, CBS spokespersons claimed they canceled the show solely for financial reasons. They insisted that this has nothing to do with the performance of the show or content of Colbert.
“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,” said a CBS representative.
Industry analysts argue that late-night shows are no longer able to fund their lavish salaries and production expenditures. This shift brings into even deeper scrutiny the sustainability of their business model.
“The reality is the business of late night is not going anywhere that justifies the enormous salaries that this talent is paid and the costs that these productions have,” stated media analyst Andrew Rosen. “Ultimately, if you’re producing late night, it is mostly going to be consumed on YouTube.”
The Impact of Merger Discussions
Adding to CBS’s headache are the back-and-forth negotiations that seem like they are still in play for a merger between CBS parent Paramount and Skydance. As these talks move forward, industry pros are chiming in. They argue that the cancellation reflects deep concern with the new financial reality that would be established by the revenue-generating potential of mergers.
Rosen elaborated on this point, suggesting that CBS’s approach may be influenced more by merger economics than by Colbert’s performance or ratings.
“They’ve just maxed out the model for as long as they can and for a variety of reasons that I think probably have more to do with the economics of the merger with Skydance than they do with Trump,” Rosen added.
As a number of analysts, not least NYT’s Rodney Benson, have noted, long-term financial trends would support these decisions. The short term timing of these moves calls into question what’s really behind them.
“Longterm financial trends could underlie this, but the timing suggests that, if it was just financial, then they would have wanted to wait a bit,” Benson commented.
A Shift in Late-Night Programming
As CBS turns away from “The Late Show,” it is emblematic of a larger trend ongoing across the entire late-night landscape. Traditional television networks are in very deep trouble. As a result, many are rethinking their programming plans to meet changing audience viewing patterns.
Former President Donald Trump, the favorite subject of all Colbert’s jabs and zingers, responded to the cancellation with his usual tact.
“I absolutely love that Colbert got fired,” Trump wrote on social media. He added disparagingly, “His talent was even less than his ratings.”
If “The Late Show” was indeed cancelled, it would represent a huge change in programming for CBS, which has been known for its late-night shows. Networks too are grappling with losing traditional viewership while production costs continue to increase. As such, they are the most innovative with finding new formats that resonate more with today’s dynamic audiences.
