Posted on 07/20/2025 8:55:11 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
The axing of Stephen Colbert's Late Show has been received as a death knell for late-night television - but there's still time for one more rising star before the world of cable TV is eclipsed by TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram reels.
CBS and its parent company, Paramount, announced that Colbert's show would 'end its historic run' in May 2026, just over a decade after it first launched, as it hemorrhaged $40 million per year.
'We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire the Late Show franchise at that time,' the broadcast executives said.
'We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and his broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television.'
In fact, Colbert, 61, had the best current ratings of all the traditional late-night 11.35pm show hosts before he got the chop.
The veteran presenter attracted 2.42 million viewers across 41 first-run episodes - easily outpacing ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! which had 1.77 million, and NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon which had 1.19 million, per LateNighter.
According to the TV specialist news site, the Late Show was the only one among nine mainstream programs tracked which drew more viewers in the second quarter of 2025 than the first, with a small audience growth of one percent.
So it's no wonder that Colbert's axing has got other left-leaning hosts shaking in their boots.
Kimmel, 57, blasted CBS via his Instagram stories. He reposted Colbert's announcement with the caption: 'Love you Stephen. F**k you and all your Sheldons CBS.'
Late night talk show host Andy Cohen, 57, also said he was 'stunned' by the news.
'I can't believe CBS is turning off the lights at 11:30 after the local news.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Thirty years ago, when Carson was still on, both Colbert and Gutfeld would have seemed unlikely, even impossible.
“pantheon of greats” LOLZ! Colbert wouldn’t make a pimple on the posterior of Steve Allen, Jack Paar, or Johnny Carson!
Sure has.
Wouldn’t it be a hoot for some entrepreneur to replay The Rush Limbaugh Television Show in the late night hours.
Rush created four years of television shows. Many of the same players are still around: Pelousy, Schumer, Billary.
Bo Snerdley (James Golden) could assist, and even perform some of the intros.
The audience tuning in would be huuuuge.
How about a late show that features up and coming comedians, magicians, and actors promoting their new movies....
What he did not have was the Key Advertising Demographic of 18 to 49, i.e. people who buy and spend money. He had the over 65 group. So advertisers were not spending big bucks to back his show.
Actually at Carson’s peak he was drawing as many as 8 Million viewers.
“”Actually at Carson’s peak he was drawing as many as 8 Million viewers.””
My parents loved him. I think his “Carnac the Magnificant” was the funniest skit he had. We were blessed with real comedians back then.
I was an avid Carol Burnett fan. It was epic. And back then, SNL was even funny.
Carson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76wzA2A2T1Q
I agree gutfield has been very good.
I’ll add that the article says Gutfeld’s entire staff is 20 people. So with a tenth the staff of Colbert (per Matt Walsh) he drew an audience of 3 million versus Colbert’s 2.4 million. That’s remarkable.
Liberals live within their little boxes. It's possible they never watched a whole FOX show... closed minded provincial people. Guess they've heard of Gutfeld now.
See? THAT'S the kind of humor that might've made Colbert's show worth watching.
Or know an actual Conservative in their lives (one of their friends probably have voted for Trump but is forced to remain in the "closet" because he does not want to be ostracized by his peers)
Like Carson's iconic gags...
-PJ
-PJ
Relieved to say I never watched his show.
And The Teatime Movie with Carol Wayne. He had a lot of his most memorable gags in that bit.
-PJ
“”And The Teatime Movie with Carol Wayne. He had a lot of his most memorable gags in that bit.””
Art Fern and that wig and mustache...lol. He looked like a porn star and sounded like a dork. Funny stuff.
Liberals can be funny. The problem is that there aren’t really any liberals still around. All those horrific late night hosts are leftists.
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