CBS has announced that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will not be renewed, after its next season wraps in May of 2026. The network cites "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.” CBS’s announcement indicates that the Late Show franchise, which was started by David Letterman when he jumped from NBC in 1993, is being retired.
However, it’s difficult to not see this through a political lens: CBS recently agreed to a $16 million settlement of a lawsuit from Donald Trump over the 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris; the settlement is widely seen as an appeasement to the Trump administration, as Paramount seeks to gain regulatory approval of its merger with Skydance Media. Colbert, of course, has made mocking and criticism of Trump a key feature of his show, and Skydance’s founder and CEO, David Ellison, appears be a Trump supporter.