Inside CBS '' qualifying decision 'to terminate Colberts at the late night show

Cnn
–

From the outside, the idea made no sense at all. Why should a Broadcast network cancel one of its best-known shows that set number one in its time window?

At CBS, however, there were several plausible answers to this question. While Stephen Colbert, the moderator of the late show, was on his usual mid-vacation at the beginning of this month, the CBS executives defeated the advantages and disadvantages of canceling the unique but unfortunately unprofitable show.

The “disadvantages” were obvious, as the Boos of the Studio audience show when Colbert announced the cancellation on Thursday evening.

However, the “professionals” ultimately won because according to sources near the “The Late Show” network, money lost money and there was no obvious way to turn his financial position.

It was a “agonizing decision” how the managers had approved in a statement.

But CBS insiders insist that the step was financially powered and was not politically motivated.

Many observers have great doubts because Colbert was a pronounced critic of President Trump.

The Writers Guild of America, which represents the writer in “The Late Show”, said on Friday that it was the cancellation that the cancellation was a “bribery” for Curry Gust at the Trump government. The guild wants the Attorney General of New York to initiate an investigation.

While the political turmoil continues, this is what the data shows.

The floor has been falling out of the television business model of the late-disadvantage TV business for several years. The fragmentation of the audience and the digital competition have led to a decline in advertising revenue across the board. An insider described it as “cratering” at CBS.

This is because, although Colbert surpassed his competition at 11:35 p.m., the overall audience shrank late into the night.

“Advertising collar and the audience move away from late night shows,” said Variety – and that was in 2023.

The financial picture has only become darker since then. The guideline, an advertising data company, estimates that the day-to-night networks in 2018 a turnover of $ 439 million and only $ 220 million in 2024-a decrease of $ 50 percent.

The shows organized by Colbert and his rivals Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel are by nature expensive to produce, with hundreds of employees and detailed studio productions.

The shows are also embarrassing on streaming platforms because they tend to be up -to -date and limit the durability of the content. Colbert's comments and interviews are often viral on social media, but this attention is not easily converted into cold, hard money, since CBS does not control the social platforms.

But couldn't CBS be investigated by changes in the cost structure? The network later did this in the evening in its time window from 12:35 p.m. in 2023.

Colbert was both “After Midnight” and in “The Late Show” producer, so that he had dealt in the financial circumstances.

But the speed of the network's decision indicates that he didn't have much time to suggest cost savings or other alternatives.

Therefore, a person who Colbert near Colbert described the retirement of the show in May 2026 described as a “victim of the merger”.

This merger is long-of-deal from CBS Parent Paramount with Skydance, a media company that was checked by David Ellison, the son of Oracle Milliardaire Larry Ellison.

The older Ellison is a long -time friend of President Trump and previously described himself as Trump supporter. And David Ellison was discovered at UFC games with the president at the beginning of this year.

The upcoming deal is important for two reasons: one because companies almost always try to reduce costs at the time of a merger; And two because the deal requires a department from the Trump administration.

Paramount closed a comparison agreement with Trump at the beginning of this month to solve Trump's lawsuit against the CBS news program “60 minutes”. The company said that it would pay $ 16 million for the future Trump Presidential Library. At the time, Trump suggested that the settlement gave other components.

While there is no evidence that Colbert's cancellation is connected to the settlement, democratic senators such as Elizabeth Warren ask questions about the possibility.

“America deserves to know whether his show was canceled for political reasons,” said Warren on Thursday evening in an explanation.

At least the CBS executives changed with the resignation of “The Late Show” franchise that the optics would cause all types of controversies.

Trump celebrated the cancellation on Friday morning and wrote about the truth that “I love that Colbert was fired. His talent was even less than his reviews. I hear that Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has less talent than Colbert!”

In the meantime, the merger about the review of the Trump government continues to progress, if slowly. David Ellison was in Washington on Tuesday to meet the chairman of the FCC chairman, Brendan Carr and other FCC officials.

The company said that Ellison had discussed “Skydance's commitment to impartial journalism and its hug different aspects, principles that ensure that the editorial decision -making of CBS reflects the different ideological perspectives of the American viewers”.