It costs CBS around $100 million a year to produce The Late Show. Most of that goes to pay host Stephen Colbert and his staff of 200.
Reuters reports that The Late Show has seen a drop in advertising revenue by 40%, only generated a bit north of $70 million this year. In general, the show has lost $40 million per year. This year that show’s viewership reached 1.9 million compared to 3.1 million viewers during 2017-2018.
Speculation has arisen that Colbert was fired for accusing Paramount for bribing President Trump for their benefit. Paramount recently settled a lawsuit with President Trump in order to continue a merger with media company Skydance.
Even Senator Bernie Sanders (IND-Vermont) post on X about the incident, stating that this in not a coincidence.
Nick Fondacaro of Media Research Center says cutting the show is about the money.
“I do think it's probably a financial decision if they're putting in that much money into it,” Fondacaro states.
That's not to say Colbert had nothing to do with the show's demise.
Fondacaro says instead of trying to entertain people and make them laugh, Colbert appeals to the nastier-based instincts of Leftists.
“Yesterday marked exactly 10 years since Trump announced his first presidential campaign after coming down that escalator, in a profound metaphor for his descent into madness. But we didn't know how bad it was going to be at the time,” Colbert said in a recent episode of his show.
Back in the day when Johnny Carson ruled the night with The Tonight Show, politics was rarely a topic in the monologue, and when it was, it was lighthearted.
“Eisenhower warned us of the Military Industrial Complex, and Reagan warned us about the Iron Triangle, and Jerry Ford warned us about the third step going up Air Force One, remember?” Carson said in an old episode of The Tonight Show.
Several years ago, the National Review wrote an article titled “Johnny Carson – The King of Late Night, and of Good Manners.” The premise of it talks about how Carson’s show was good because it was something all Americans enjoyed as political humor was used gingerly.
Fondacaro says the late-night carnage might not be over.
“They should probably be looking over the shoulder if CBS is calling it quits. Jimmy Kimmel might be next,” he said.
