The downfall of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” wasn’t wrought by any dramatic incident, but by an all too common business reality: the show consistently lost money, forcing CBS to pull the plug. Being a financial pitfall, the program was hemorrhaging around $40 million per year.
CBS took this drastic step despite the fact that Stephen Colbert was consistently besting his competitors like Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon in viewership numbers. His show’s untimely cancellation surprised many, however, it’s a stark reminder that profitability trumps ratings in the business world.
The production costs of the show reportedly racked up to a hefty $100 million annually. A significant portion of this sum, between $15 million and $20 million, went into Colbert’s pocket as his hosting fee, a figure that despite his success, CBS evidently could no longer afford.
The decline in profitability of late-night shows is a recent trend. With the advent of streaming services and the increasing popularity of mobile content viewing, traditional TV formats have taken a hit. Ad revenues, once the lifeline of such shows, have been on a steady decline, painting a grim picture for the likes of Colbert’s show.
As the sponsorship money dwindled, it became increasingly difficult for CBS to keep Colbert’s show on the lucrative side of the ledger, thus cementing the decision to cancel. Despite this ominous financial backdrop, Colbert reportedly received the news of his show’s termination with a surprisingly nonchalant attitude.
Just before the official announcement of the cancellation, Colbert was said to be conversing with his staff in a quite matter-of-fact manner. He didn’t display anger or resentment, which speaks volumes about his professionalism in the face of adversity.
The sand in the hourglass started to run out for Colbert around the Fourth of July, 2026, when he was first informed of his show’s precarious position. Unfortunately, the termination news came during his vacation, allowing CBS honchos ample time to orchestrate their next moves without his presence.
A particularly significant event preceding the cancellation of Colbert’s show was his on-air condemnation of CBS’s decision to settle a $15 million lawsuit with Donald Trump. The legal conflict emerged from the network’s prior interview with Democratic Vice President Kamal Harris, Trump’s chief adversary.
Acting as if Trump’s substantial settlement was nothing more than a ‘big fat bribe,’ Colbert didn’t shy away from voicing his harsh critique. This incident, needless to say, didn’t do much to improve his standing with the network executives, contributing to their decision to cancel his program.
For a long time, Colbert, along with his fellow late-night hosts, Kimmel and Fallon, have been relentless in their targeting of Donald Trump. This certainly must have added an element of satisfaction for Trump over the termination of Colbert’s show, as evident from his jubilant post on the Truth Social website.
It’s intriguing to see how the tides have turned. On one hand, we see the forceful end of a famous late-night show, and on the other, we see Trump celebrating this development as a kind of personal victory. Amid these circumstances, Colbert’s show is set to sign off for the last time in May 2026, marking the end of an important chapter in late-night television.
From a broader perspective, the cancellation of Colbert’s show serves as a cautionary tale for other late-night hosts and programs. No matter how commendable their ratings are or how charismatic their host might be, the ultimate survivability of these shows hinges on their ability to generate profitability.
As the curtain closes on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,’ it’s a moment of contemplation for the television industry. In a changing landscape marked by shifting viewer habits and falling ad revenues, the traditional kings of late night are finding themselves on precarious ground.