# CBS is ending ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ next year (May 21, 2026) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [July 17, 2025, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000 "2025-07-17T23:57:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/101 "2025-07-19T17:30:51Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I would imagine that late-night commercial slots are a lot cheaper than prime time, but the overhead is still significant, including the outrageous salaries of the hosts. Colbert has indicated that 200 people work on his show. That’s more than I would have imagined, but probably includes the staff at the Ed Sullivan Theater, as well as writers, production people, etc. His salary is very large, of course ($15 million a year), but as you note, “overhead,” in this case, also includes paying the salaries and benefits for hundreds of staff members. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/102 "2025-07-19T17:52:56Z")
I think it’s telling that CBS apparently did not approach the producers (which includes Colbert and Jon Stewart) about possible solutions to the cost issue. > [@Loach](#): > > has the smallest digital footprint by far. I saw that in the show’s Wikipedia page, but it was in reference to Colbert’s hiring in 2016. > [@wolfpup](#): > > It’s one of the reasons I very rarely watch commercial TV in the first place, but these late-night shows are a particularly bad combination of lots of commercials and low content quality. Agree on the lots of commercials, hence DVR. Respectfully disagree on low quality content. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/103 "2025-07-19T17:59:50Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > I saw that in the show’s Wikipedia page, but it was in reference to Colbert’s hiring in 2016. FWIW, number of followers of each of the big late night shows’ channels on YouTube, recognizing that followers are not a perfect measure of engagement: - Colbert: 9.97 million - Kimmel: 20.7 million - Fallon: 32.7 million At least as far as followers go, Colbert has less than half of either of his direct competitors, even though he has the best viewership of the three on linear television. Gutfeld is harder to directly measure, because it looks like clips of his show are in the broader Fox News YouTube channel, rather than a dedicated channel for his show. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/104 "2025-07-19T18:06:12Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Respectfully disagree on low quality content. I was speaking generally. Colbert is better than most, and anything with Jon Stewart is gonna be great, but I lost interest even in Colbert after a while despite his efforts to keep the show a cut above the rest. The guy-behind-a-desk format is generally not appealing to me, with the exception of John Oliver who manages to pull it off solo, a unique format that’s both funny and usually very informative. Colbert had a great thing going with _The Colbert Report_. The beauty of it was that he was never out of character as a right-wing nutjob, even outside the context of the show, like his famous appearance at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner or appearances in other venues. I wish he had stuck with it. No matter what he did on _The Late Show_, having to drop the mask and act normal was always gonna be disappointing. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > - Colbert: 9.97 million > - Kimmel: 20.7 million > - Fallon: 32.7 million > > I can appreciate Kimmel having higher ratings than Colbert, but why Fallon is even on that list, let alone having the largest viewership, is a mystery to me. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/105 "2025-07-19T18:12:36Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I can appreciate Kimmel having higher ratings than Colbert, but why Fallon is even on that list, let alone having the largest viewership, is a mystery to me. Just to be clear, those numbers are how many “followers” each show’s channel has on YouTube; a follower is someone who’s clicked the “Follow” button on the show’s YouTube channel (a one-time thing), and may bear a tangential relationship, at best, to how often the show’s videos are watched. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/106 "2025-07-19T18:13:31Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Jay Leno at one point was reported to be earning as much as $30 million a year as host of the Tonight Show, which was cut in 2012 to between $15 and $20 million as part of the network’s effort to reduce overhead. IIRC the network came to Leno and said they were going to drastically cut his staff. He chose to take the cut in pay and keep the entire staff on the payroll. He never touched a penny of his salary anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/107 "2025-07-19T18:16:35Z")
I’m not sure why anybody with enough money for cable ever watches programs on network TV. The barrage of ads even makes the news unwatchable. I watch the late-night stuff on YouTube the day after they air. I prefer Seth Meyers and Kimmel to Colbert’s show, as his Trump impressions are just too grating. Kimmel doesn’t do those (and his show generally has better writers), and Meyers is a far better mimic than any of them. And Fallon is usually unwatchable. As for Colbert being cancelled, I agree that it’s politics and cowardice by the network. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/108 "2025-07-19T18:27:37Z")
My mistake, I thought those were TV ratings. I still don’t understand why anybody cares about Fallon. I sometimes get the two Jimmys mixed up but they could not be more different. > [@Loach](#): > > IIRC the network came to Leno and said they were going to drastically cut his staff. He chose to take the cut in pay and keep the entire staff on the payroll. I didn’t know that but that sounds just like something Leno would do. Other stars in his position would have thrown a hissy fit. Carson was notoriously temperamental. > [@Loach](#): > > He never touched a penny of his salary anyway. Yes, supported himself on the comedy circuit and stashed away all his NBC salary. Now that he’s retired he has perhaps one of the finest rare car collections in the world. I’m not a car nut but I admire someone who can afford to indulge in a super-expensive hobby and who appreciates and delights in the privilege. _Jay Leno’s Garage_ is a fun series of YouTube videos that even non-car-nuts can enjoy! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/109 "2025-07-19T18:35:50Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > _Jay Leno’s Garage_ is a fun series of YouTube videos that even non-car-nuts can enjoy! It was actually a TV series for a number of years (running on CNBC), but moved to YouTube a couple of years ago. My wife, who is a car nut, enjoys watching it. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/110 "2025-07-19T18:48:00Z")
Back in the day, Bill Carter’s _The Late Show_ reported on the battle between CBS and NBC for Letterman and Leno. Leno was to make $6 million the first year (1992) and $7 million the second, but the total budget was to be $23 and $24 million. CBS had offered Letterman $12.5 million and a budget of $27 million. By 2013 the [Hollywood Reporter](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/jimmy-fallons-tonight-show-nyc-444773/) put the cost of the Tonight Show at $76 million, when Leno cut his salary. Profit was down to $30-40 million from a peak of $150 million. Colbert cost more and did worse. The [NYTimes](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/business/media/stephen-colbert-late-show-cbs.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20Late%20Show%E2%80%9D%20began%20losing%20money%20at,to%20profitability%2C%20one%20of%20the%20people%20said.) wrote that costs had gone to $100 million but it was losing $40 million a year. I can’t find a number for the current _Tonight Show_, but NBC cancelled the Friday episode last year, shortly after it extended Fallon’s contract to 2028. Similarly, when it extended Seth Myers’ contract to 2028 last year, it cut the band. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/111 "2025-07-19T18:55:29Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I can’t find a number for the current _Tonight Show_, but NBC cancelled the Friday episode last year, shortly after it extended Fallon’s contract to 2028. Even in the pre-COVID years, in weeks where Colbert was doing new shows, he was only shooting in front of an audience Monday through Thursday. The “new” Friday shows contained no content that was taped that day; those shows were assembled from clips and extended interview segments which had been shot earlier in the week. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2025, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/112 "2025-07-19T21:35:54Z")
Yeah, Fallon was the last show to go to four nights. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/113 "2025-07-20T14:25:53Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I can’t find a number for the current _Tonight Show_… I think _The Tonight Show_ is in a much different position than the other shows. It’s been on since 1954. It’s one of the things that define the network. The host may change, they may fiddle with the budget, but I think they will keep it even if it loses money. Like Costco rotisserie chicken. There has been a lot of criticism in this thread of Fallon including from me. One thing he is much better at than any other host is creating viral moments with celebrities. In 2025 that is extremely important. ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/114 "2025-07-20T18:57:08Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > “I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired,” [Trump wrote Friday on his Truth Social platform](https://trumpstruth.org/statuses/32066). I would have thought that THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES had more important issues to concern himself with than late night TV hosts. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/115 "2025-07-20T19:04:19Z")
> [@Steven\_Maven](#): > > I would have thought that THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES had more important issues to concern himself with than late night TV hosts. Indeed; it took up some of his valuable time, which would have been better spent [haranguing Coca-Cola to switch back to cane sugar](https://apnews.com/article/trump-cocacola-making-coke-cane-sugar-0404b23518e65e2e6cd3487381411d7f). /s ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/116 "2025-07-20T21:06:27Z")
I very rarely drink soda anymore but when I do I prefer ones with cane sugar. Not because I think it’s healthier, I just like the taste. But of course Trump (who drinks Diet Coke by the gallon) is much more interested in lining the pockets of his good friends in the Fanjul family since the U.S. can’t possibly grow enough sugar cane domestically. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/117 "2025-07-20T22:12:11Z")
Maybe it’s to undercut the Mexican Coke cartel. Gotta get rid of all those glass bottles pouring through Joe Biden’s open border… I wonder if John Oliver’s (and maybe Ronny Chieng’s) naturalization papers are under investigation. Samantha Bee and Jason Jones are too far out of the limelight to attract attention right now. I wonder how man other naturalized citizens are in Jon Stewart’s comedy tree… ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/118 "2025-07-20T22:52:46Z")
If Colbert wanted to run for president in ‘28, he’d be taken seriously. I’m not joking. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/119 "2025-07-20T23:21:27Z")
How about running for Senate in 2026 against Lindsey Graham? ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000/120 "2025-07-21T00:02:21Z")
Re last post, he can try. With CBS news in Trump’s pocket, it will be more difficult than if would have been last round. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cbs-is-ending-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-next-year-may-21-2026/1021000.md?page=7)