CBS Was Losing 8-Figure Sum on ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ Annually, Report Claims

The entertainment world was shocked last week when The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was unexpectedly cancelled on CBS.

Despite being the top-rated late-night show on television, with an average of just under 2.5 million viewers a night and nine Emmy nominations, Paramount opted to pull the plug, citing a “financial decision.”

Many people—including Daily Show host Jon Stewart, who also works for Paramount—have criticized the company for the move and speculated that the cancellation was due to the company’s upcoming merger with Skydance Global.

A Variety report said there was “growing speculation” that Colbert’s show was cancelled (and Stewart’s is next) because both Colbert and Stewart frequently satirize decisions made by Donald Trump’s administration, and Skydance CEO David Ellison is known for being a staunch Trump supporter.

But a report from Puck News suggests that there may have been economic factors at play after all.

The Puck article has a source that believes Late Show has been losing over $40,000,000 for CBS every year. Late-night television as a whole is struggling, and ballooning production costs for Late Show (over $100 million per season) made it an easy decision for Paramount to pull the plug.

The source also claims if the decision was made to appease Trump ahead of the merger, Colbert would’ve been pulled off the air immediately instead of getting 10 more months of air time, and that there’s “no conspiracy.”

Still, this is all rumors and hearsay, so it’s possible we’ll never know the truth.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs every weeknight at 11:35 pm.