The American talk show The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will stop in May 2026. The program has been broadcast since 1993, until 2015 with David Letterman as the presenter.
Colbert said he heard the news on Thursday evening. He announced it to the public that same evening. “I’m not being replaced, this is all just going away,” Colbert said. Booing was heard from the audience.
CBS says in a statement that “this is purely a financial decision against a backdrop of challenges in the world of late night. It has nothing to do with the performance, content, or other issues at Paramount.”
The financial pressure on Paramount is high, writes CNN. A source close to CBS says that The Late Show would no longer be profitable due to declining advertising revenue. Attempts to attract a younger audience would also usually fail.
But American media such as CNN write that it remains a striking decision. The Late Show is usually the most-watched program on late night in the United States. The timing of the discontinuation raises questions.
Colbert is a major Trump critic
Paramount, the parent company of broadcaster CBS, reached a settlement two weeks ago in a lawsuit that US President Trump had filed against CBS. The president claimed that an interview with his Democratic competitor Kamala Harris had been cut, which put her in a good light.
Paramount is also merging with Skydance Media soon. The merger has already led to speculation about Colbert’s future at CBS. The chairman of Skydance Media is a Trump supporter and Colbert is one of the fiercest Trump critics on television.
The Late Show has been an important part of CBS’s programming for more than 33 years. Founder and presenter David Letterman started the show in the 1990s and built it into a beloved brand. In 2015, he handed over the baton to Colbert, who “further enlivened the program with sharp political humor,” writes CNN.