A decade ago, one of the top storylines in entertainment was WHO would replace David Letterman on "The Late Show". Now, 10 years into Stephen Colbert's run, the whole show is being shut down.
Last night, Stephen and CBS announced that the "Late Show" was being canceled, following one more season, which will run through next May. After that, Stephen won't be replaced . . . they're just ending it altogether.
CBS said, "We consider Stephen irreplaceable and will retire 'The Late Show' franchise after 33 years . . . this is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount."
When Stephen announced the bad news to his audience, they booed, and Stephen responded, "Yeah, I share your feelings. It's not just the end of our show, it's the end of the 'Late Show' . . . this is all just going away."
There are rumors that the show may have been canceled for political reasons . . . particularly Stephen's criticism of Paramount's $16 million settlement with President Trump in the CBS / "60 Minutes" case.
But if that were the case, it's strange that they'd kill the whole franchise.
Meanwhile, the Hollywood trades are reporting that all late-night shows are struggling, because they're expensive and complicated to produce . . . and people don't watch them as much as they did back in the day, especially young adults.
That said, "The Late Show" drew an average of 2.5 million viewers during the 2024 to 2025 season that ended in June . . . ahead of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on ABC and "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on NBC.
CBS previously canceled another late-night show, "After Midnight", in March. That's the show that ran immediately after the "Late Show".