Colbert is latest casualty of late-night TV's fade-out
The announced end of one of the most popular broadcast late-night shows, days after host Stephen Colbert accused the network owner of bribing President Donald Trump to approve a merger, drew cries of political foul play from liberal politicians, artists and entertainers.
"Stephen Colbert, an extraordinary talent and the most popular late-night host, slams the deal. Days later, he's fired. Do I think this is a coincidence? NO," Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent, wrote on X.
CBS executives said dropping the show was "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".
The late-night format has been struggling for years as viewers increasingly migrate to streaming. Younger viewers, in particular, are more apt to find amusement on YouTube or TikTok, leaving smaller, aging TV audiences and declining ad revenues.
Americans used to religiously turn on Johnny Carson or Jay Leno before bed, but nowadays many fans prefer to watch quick clips on social media.
Advertising revenue for Colbert's show has dropped 40 per cent since 2018 - the financial reality that CBS said prompted the decision to end The Late Show in May 2026.
One former TV network executive said the program was a casualty of the fading economics of broadcast television.
Colbert's late-night show rivals Jimmy Fallon and Seth Myers both expressed shock over the cancellation.
"I'm just as shocked as everyone," Fallon wrote on Instagram.
"For as great a comedian and host he is, Stephen Colbert is an even better person," Meyers wrote on Instagram.
Fifteen years ago, a popular late-night show like The Tonight Show could earn $US100 million ($A153 million) a year, the executive said. Recently, though, The Late Show has been losing $US40 million ($A61 million) a year, said a person briefed on the matter.
The show's ad revenue plummeted to $US70 million ($A107 million) last year from $US121million ($A185 million) in 2018, according to ad tracking firm Guideline. Ratings for Colbert's show peaked at 3.1 million viewers on average during the 2017-18 season, according to Nielsen data.
For the season that ended in May, the show's audience averaged 1.9 million.
Comedians like Colbert followed their younger audiences online, with the network releasing clips to YouTube or TikTok. But digital advertising did not make up for the lost TV ad revenue, the source with knowledge of the matter said.
But the end came at a politically sensitive time.
Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, is seeking approval from the Federal Communications Commission for an $US8.4 billion ($A12.8 billion) merger with Skydance Media.
This month Paramount agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by Trump over a 60 Minutes interview with his 2024 Democratic challenger, Kamala Harris.
Colbert called the payment "a big fat bribe" two days before he was told his show was cancelled.
Late-night television had been fighting for its survival even before The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was cancelled last week.
The announced end of one of the most popular broadcast late-night shows, days after host Stephen Colbert accused the network owner of bribing President Donald Trump to approve a merger, drew cries of political foul play from liberal politicians, artists and entertainers.
"Stephen Colbert, an extraordinary talent and the most popular late-night host, slams the deal. Days later, he's fired. Do I think this is a coincidence? NO," Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent, wrote on X.
CBS executives said dropping the show was "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".
The late-night format has been struggling for years as viewers increasingly migrate to streaming. Younger viewers, in particular, are more apt to find amusement on YouTube or TikTok, leaving smaller, aging TV audiences and declining ad revenues.
Americans used to religiously turn on Johnny Carson or Jay Leno before bed, but nowadays many fans prefer to watch quick clips on social media.
Advertising revenue for Colbert's show has dropped 40 per cent since 2018 - the financial reality that CBS said prompted the decision to end The Late Show in May 2026.
One former TV network executive said the program was a casualty of the fading economics of broadcast television.
Colbert's late-night show rivals Jimmy Fallon and Seth Myers both expressed shock over the cancellation.
"I'm just as shocked as everyone," Fallon wrote on Instagram.
"For as great a comedian and host he is, Stephen Colbert is an even better person," Meyers wrote on Instagram.
Fifteen years ago, a popular late-night show like The Tonight Show could earn $US100 million ($A153 million) a year, the executive said. Recently, though, The Late Show has been losing $US40 million ($A61 million) a year, said a person briefed on the matter.
The show's ad revenue plummeted to $US70 million ($A107 million) last year from $US121million ($A185 million) in 2018, according to ad tracking firm Guideline. Ratings for Colbert's show peaked at 3.1 million viewers on average during the 2017-18 season, according to Nielsen data.
For the season that ended in May, the show's audience averaged 1.9 million.
Comedians like Colbert followed their younger audiences online, with the network releasing clips to YouTube or TikTok. But digital advertising did not make up for the lost TV ad revenue, the source with knowledge of the matter said.
But the end came at a politically sensitive time.
Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, is seeking approval from the Federal Communications Commission for an $US8.4 billion ($A12.8 billion) merger with Skydance Media.
This month Paramount agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by Trump over a 60 Minutes interview with his 2024 Democratic challenger, Kamala Harris.
Colbert called the payment "a big fat bribe" two days before he was told his show was cancelled.
Late-night television had been fighting for its survival even before The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was cancelled last week.
The announced end of one of the most popular broadcast late-night shows, days after host Stephen Colbert accused the network owner of bribing President Donald Trump to approve a merger, drew cries of political foul play from liberal politicians, artists and entertainers.
"Stephen Colbert, an extraordinary talent and the most popular late-night host, slams the deal. Days later, he's fired. Do I think this is a coincidence? NO," Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent, wrote on X.
CBS executives said dropping the show was "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".
The late-night format has been struggling for years as viewers increasingly migrate to streaming. Younger viewers, in particular, are more apt to find amusement on YouTube or TikTok, leaving smaller, aging TV audiences and declining ad revenues.
Americans used to religiously turn on Johnny Carson or Jay Leno before bed, but nowadays many fans prefer to watch quick clips on social media.
Advertising revenue for Colbert's show has dropped 40 per cent since 2018 - the financial reality that CBS said prompted the decision to end The Late Show in May 2026.
One former TV network executive said the program was a casualty of the fading economics of broadcast television.
Colbert's late-night show rivals Jimmy Fallon and Seth Myers both expressed shock over the cancellation.
"I'm just as shocked as everyone," Fallon wrote on Instagram.
"For as great a comedian and host he is, Stephen Colbert is an even better person," Meyers wrote on Instagram.
Fifteen years ago, a popular late-night show like The Tonight Show could earn $US100 million ($A153 million) a year, the executive said. Recently, though, The Late Show has been losing $US40 million ($A61 million) a year, said a person briefed on the matter.
The show's ad revenue plummeted to $US70 million ($A107 million) last year from $US121million ($A185 million) in 2018, according to ad tracking firm Guideline. Ratings for Colbert's show peaked at 3.1 million viewers on average during the 2017-18 season, according to Nielsen data.
For the season that ended in May, the show's audience averaged 1.9 million.
Comedians like Colbert followed their younger audiences online, with the network releasing clips to YouTube or TikTok. But digital advertising did not make up for the lost TV ad revenue, the source with knowledge of the matter said.
But the end came at a politically sensitive time.
Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, is seeking approval from the Federal Communications Commission for an $US8.4 billion ($A12.8 billion) merger with Skydance Media.
This month Paramount agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by Trump over a 60 Minutes interview with his 2024 Democratic challenger, Kamala Harris.
Colbert called the payment "a big fat bribe" two days before he was told his show was cancelled.
Late-night television had been fighting for its survival even before The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was cancelled last week.
The announced end of one of the most popular broadcast late-night shows, days after host Stephen Colbert accused the network owner of bribing President Donald Trump to approve a merger, drew cries of political foul play from liberal politicians, artists and entertainers.
"Stephen Colbert, an extraordinary talent and the most popular late-night host, slams the deal. Days later, he's fired. Do I think this is a coincidence? NO," Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent, wrote on X.
CBS executives said dropping the show was "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".
The late-night format has been struggling for years as viewers increasingly migrate to streaming. Younger viewers, in particular, are more apt to find amusement on YouTube or TikTok, leaving smaller, aging TV audiences and declining ad revenues.
Americans used to religiously turn on Johnny Carson or Jay Leno before bed, but nowadays many fans prefer to watch quick clips on social media.
Advertising revenue for Colbert's show has dropped 40 per cent since 2018 - the financial reality that CBS said prompted the decision to end The Late Show in May 2026.
One former TV network executive said the program was a casualty of the fading economics of broadcast television.
Colbert's late-night show rivals Jimmy Fallon and Seth Myers both expressed shock over the cancellation.
"I'm just as shocked as everyone," Fallon wrote on Instagram.
"For as great a comedian and host he is, Stephen Colbert is an even better person," Meyers wrote on Instagram.
Fifteen years ago, a popular late-night show like The Tonight Show could earn $US100 million ($A153 million) a year, the executive said. Recently, though, The Late Show has been losing $US40 million ($A61 million) a year, said a person briefed on the matter.
The show's ad revenue plummeted to $US70 million ($A107 million) last year from $US121million ($A185 million) in 2018, according to ad tracking firm Guideline. Ratings for Colbert's show peaked at 3.1 million viewers on average during the 2017-18 season, according to Nielsen data.
For the season that ended in May, the show's audience averaged 1.9 million.
Comedians like Colbert followed their younger audiences online, with the network releasing clips to YouTube or TikTok. But digital advertising did not make up for the lost TV ad revenue, the source with knowledge of the matter said.
But the end came at a politically sensitive time.
Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, is seeking approval from the Federal Communications Commission for an $US8.4 billion ($A12.8 billion) merger with Skydance Media.
This month Paramount agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by Trump over a 60 Minutes interview with his 2024 Democratic challenger, Kamala Harris.
Colbert called the payment "a big fat bribe" two days before he was told his show was cancelled.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
12 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Hulk Hogan's ultimate betrayal moment that changed wrestling forever
Hulk Hogan was the hero in the ring. The All-American icon who all but relayed the message of stay in school and don't do drugs. He was the poster boy for Americans and wrestling fans around the world idolised the larger than life figure who sadly passed away on Friday at the age of 71. It's no secret that wrestling follows a script with fans most of the time knowing and seeing what is coming there way. But there's still the occasional moment that will catch the fan base off guard, just look at last month when R-Truth returned after he was reportedly let go only weeks earlier. But for the most part the bombshell twists aren't really that shocking … Hulk Hogan however was different. The face of the organisation authored one of the most jaw-dropping pivots that changed wrestling forever when he turned to the dark side. At WCW's 'Bash at the Beach' in Daytona, Florida on July 7, 1996, Hogan turned heel — wrestling parlance for a hero transforming into a villain — and aligned himself with fellow ex-WWE stars Scott Hall and Kevin Nash to form the New World Order (nWo) that completely changed the industry. On that fateful night, Hall and Nash were locked in a main event fight against heroes Sting, Randy Savage and Lex Luger. With a mystery third man yet to appear, it was Hogan who came marching down to the ring with fans going crazy thinking the biggest hero of all was coming to vanquish the bad guys. Hall and Nash quickly slid out of the ring as Hogan took centre stage, but then in a moment nobody saw coming … he turned on the heroes. 'Hulk Hogan has betrayed WCW … he has sold his soul to the devil,' one commentator proclaimed as fans all around the stadium rained down boos on the ring before pelting the trio with garbage. The formation of the nWo flipped the wrestling business on its head. The black nWo shirt with white lettering became immensely popular and WCW ended up beating WWE in the ratings for 83 consecutive weeks. Hogan had gone from the adoring American icon, to the king of grunge with his all black wrestling gear and black beard now the face of the game. The nWo movement changed wrestling forever and saw the industry tap into a wider cultural shift in the late 90s. 'The antiheroes became the main characters. And pro wrestling was never the same again,' Marc Raimondi wrote in his book Say Hello to the Bad Guys. With their distinctive black and white branding and anti-establishment personas, the impact of then nWo's arrival was so significant that even the WWF would follow suit by launching their own Attitude Era with Stone Cold Steve Austin and shortly after Degeneration X. Ultimately thanks to the success of Hogan turning into the antihero, the WWF bout out its rival in March 2001. Hogan and Nash briefly rehashed the group under the WWF banner, but Vince McMahon put a stop to it all and announced the New World Order had been disbanded in 2002. But it mattered little, the impact had been ingrained and while it was no longer making appearances in the ring … the nWo lived on. 'The nWo was more than just a wrestling faction; it was a cultural phenomenon that redefined the landscape of professional wrestling,' Raimondi wrote. Former nWo member Scott Hall, who died in 2022, summed up what the group meant to him during his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. 'Hard work pays off — dreams come true,' he said. 'Bad times don't last. But Bad Guys do.'
ABC News
15 minutes ago
- ABC News
What does lifting trade restrictions on US beef mean for Australia?
It might not be on our plates or menus just yet, but US beef has been a hot topic of conversation across the nation after this week's decision to lift import restrictions that had been in place for more than two decades. Australia banned beef imports from the US in 2003 after the fatal neurological disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease, was discovered in American cattle. The blanket ban was lifted in 2019, however restrictions remained on beef that was sourced from Canada or Mexico and slaughtered in the US, amid concerns it could carry the disease. "The Americans were unwilling to … do the traceability work to make sure that beef that was coming to Australia wasn't actually rebranded from somewhere else," veterinarian and former NSW Farmers Association president, James Jackson, said. "We don't want foot and mouth disease in this country, we don't want our consumers to eat beef and get Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which is the disease you get from eating cattle with mad cow disease." While some in the industry were optimistic that lifting the restrictions would open up trade opportunities for Australian producers, others raised concerns that Australia's biosecurity could be compromised. The federal government said the move was the result of a decade-long biosecurity review that found more robust movement controls had been introduced in the US. "The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is satisfied the strengthened control measures put in place by the US effectively manage biosecurity risks," Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said. "The Albanese Labor government will never compromise on biosecurity." Nationals leader David Littleproud questioned the timing of the decision, saying it looked as though it was a trade to appease US President Donald Trump. The biosecurity restrictions on beef imports from the United States were one of the key grievances that led the Trump administration to impose tariffs on Australia. Red Meat Advisory Council chair John McKillop said while the decision may have been pushed through "slightly quicker" than expected, he was confident it was the result of a long-running assessment. Global AgriTrends analyst Simon Quilty said the risk of US beef imports introducing diseases to Australia was now much lower. "They have improved their traceability methods within America and I think, in all honesty, that the degree of risk is significantly low," he said. Mr McKillop said any risk would also be mitigated by the limited amount of beef Australia was likely to import from the US. "They have the lowest beef herd in 70 years in the US at the moment [due to drought]," he said. "The most [beef] that was ever brought in, and this was pre-BSE … was 210 tonnes … in contrast to the 395,000 tonnes we exported to the US last year." Mr McKillop said the US was also experiencing near-record beef and cattle prices, and it was unlikely Australians would want to pay high prices for their product. While the amount of beef coming into Australia from the US may be limited, Mr Jackson said there could be a market for it. "There may be some lines [of product] come into Australia, people who want to sell American beef on a restaurant menu or something like that," he said. Mr Jackson said Australia must be open to accepting American beef if it wanted to maintain a trade relationship with the US. "Part of a trade deal is that you're willing to take product from other countries," he said. "Are we happy with Australian consumers eating American beef? Well, probably we're not that happy, but the reality is that if you trade, you've got to be happy to take other people's product as well." The trade restriction on US beef has been a key grievance for the Trump administration, which placed a 10 per cent tariff on all Australian imports earlier this year. Professor Ben Lyons, from the University of Southern Queensland's Rural Economies Centre of Excellence, said it was difficult to know how the move would impact that tariff. "Nothing would surprise us at the moment because that's the new paradigm under the Trump administration — full of surprises," he said. Dr Lyons said he was confident the Australian beef industry would maintain a strong export market, regardless of US-imposed tariffs. "If past performance is the best indicator of the future, we always seem to find a way with our export markets," he said. "Even the announcement of this tariff on Australian beef at the beginning of the year hasn't really had any economic impact as yet on our exports. "I think we should just carry on calmly and do what we do best. I don't really see this as being a long-term issue for Australian agriculture."
Perth Now
15 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Sacha Baron Cohen ‘only joking' over using Ozempic to transform body for Marvel role
Sacha Baron Cohen insists he was 'only joking' when he claimed to have used Ozempic to help achieve his new muscular physique for a Marvel role. The 53-year-old actor appeared on the cover of Men's Fitness UK this week, debuting his dramatic body transformation ahead of playing the villain Mephisto in Marvel's Ironheart miniseries. Alongside images from the shoot, Sacha posted on Instagram: 'Some celebs use Ozempic, some use private chefs, some use personal trainers. I did all three.' He added: 'This is not AI. I really am egotistical enough to do this. Debuting my new character. Middle aged man who replaced beer with protein shakes.' Sacha also thanked his trainer Alfonso Moretti, writing: 'Thanks @theangrytrainer for doing the unthinkable – putting up with me for 25 minutes a day.' However, after the post prompted widespread speculation and some backlash, representatives for Sacha have told MailOnline he 'was only joking' about using Ozempic. They added that the transformation was entirely the result of 'hard work'. Speaking to Men's Fitness UK, Sacha said he had only three weeks to get into superhero shape and credited Alfonso, also known as 'The Angry Trainer', with designing a focused programme of short daily workouts and strict nutrition. Sacha said: '25-minute workouts that were sustainable. Even while filming, the workouts happened. 'In the past, I would've thought you needed hour-long sessions.' He said the plan included 100 push-ups a day and a diet high in fibre and protein, with minimal sugar. At the start of training, Alfonso reportedly told Sacha he had 'the core strength of an arthritic jellyfish' but praised his consistency. Within two weeks, Marvel's costume department reportedly spent $5,000 (£3,600) making adjustments to his wardrobe due to changes in his physique. Sacha revealed he reached out to actor Matthew McConaughey for a trainer recommendation, which led him to Alfonso. Their first meeting was via FaceTime, during which the trainer asked Sacha to strip to his underwear so he could assess his body. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige recently confirmed Sacha will portray Mephisto – a demonic entity who appears in the Ironheart series, and who has long been rumoured to be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sacha rose to prominence in the late 1990s with his Ali G character, followed by major roles in Borat, Brüno, and The Dictator.
