Latest news with #financialreasons
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
David Letterman calls Paramount 'gutless' for canceling Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show'
David Letterman is questioning the motivations behind the shock cancellation of his former CBS home, "The Late Show." Speaking with former "Late Night with David Letterman" colleagues Barbara Gaines and Mary Barclay in a July 25 clip from "The Barbara Gaines Show" on Letterman's YouTube channel, the 78-year-old comedian did not hold back. He threw barbs at CBS parent company Paramount Global and David Ellison, who's slated to become CEO after Paramount merges with his Skydance Media in an $8.4 billion deal. "It's all very strange. It's very complicated, but it was a bit of a surprise, wasn't it?" Letterman said. As the 14-minute Zoom conversation continued, he eventually called Paramount pulling the plug on Stephen Colbert's show "pure cowardice" and "gutless." Letterman hosted the show from 1993 until 2015, at which point Colbert took over post-"Colbert Report." After Colbert announced on July 17 that "The Late Show" would be ending in May after more than 30 years, Paramount released a statement that called the move "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night." The media company also maintained: "It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount." While Colbert's show is the top rated at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT, it was losing a reported $40 million a year. David Letterman blasts explanation that 'Late Show' was canceled for financial reasons Letterman speculated that Paramount is capitulating to Ellison, who might not "want any trouble from that guy," referring to Colbert, long known for his political satire and criticism of President Donald Trump. "Not only are we going to get rid of that guy, we're going to get rid of the whole franchise so you don't have to worry about another guy," Letterman said in an impersonation of Paramount executives. "It's gone, buddy!" "I think it's sad, but what this indicates also is (Ellison doesn't) want any trouble along the lines of freedom of the press or free speech or freedom of expression," Letterman surmised. "They don't want to get their hands dirty; they don't want the government going after them." He also cast doubt on the explanation that the "Late Show" cancellation was "purely a financial decision." "I don't think it was money. I think it was all to make sure (Ellison was) solid spending dad's (Larry Ellison's) money," he said. "You're telling me losing this kind of money happened yesterday?" he said. "I bet they were losing this kind of money a month ago. I'll bet they were losing this kind of money six weeks ago, or they have never been losing money. "Take a look at the CBS News. It's still in business, and I'm not certain that that's a profit center," he continued. What Letterman said before: The ex-host's subtle jab at CBS amid Colbert 'Late Show' cancellation 'We've all got to kiss Stephen Colbert's ring' Letterman, who was complimentary of Colbert and the work he's done since taking over Letterman's show, went on to excoriate Paramount's treatment of its star talent. "They did not do the correct thing. They did not handle Stephen Colbert, the face of that network, in the way he deserves to have been handled," he said. Letterman went on to declare that those who decided the fate of "The Late Show" would regret the move. "One day, if not today, the people at CBS who have manipulated and handled this are going to be embarrassed because this is gutless," Letterman said. "Now we've all got to kiss Stephen Colbert's ring now," he added, joking that he's a "martyr" for his firing. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: David Letterman calls 'Late Show' cancellation 'gutless' Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Media Buzz' host Howard Kurtz said that CBS axed Stephen Colbert simply to gain Trump's approval.
Fox News host Howard Kurtz isn't buying that CBS axed Stephen Colbert solely for financial reasons. Kurtz called out CBS' parent company Paramount on Media Buzz Sunday, accusing it of cancelling The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in order to gain President Donald Trump's approval. 'This is about Shari Redstone, who needs Trump administration approval to have this sale to Skydance go through and make a lot of money, in my view, really tarnishing the network of Murrow and Cronkite,' Kurtz told guest Brian Steinberg, who is a senior TV editor at Variety.
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CBS cancels Stephen Colbert's ‘Late Show'
CBS, owned by Paramount (PARA), has canceled late night staple "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert." Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Allie Canal takes a closer look at the surprise announcement and why it may have been made. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Catalysts here. The decision by CBS to cancel late, the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, this was announced yesterday. And it's gonna be effective, I believe in May of 2026. Now, CBS says this was for financial reasons, but Colbert recently has been quite a critic, um, of the parent company, Paramount and of its decision to have that $16 million settlement, uh, with the administration over their editing of a Kamala Harris interview. You know, so, it's just, um, it's hard to pull out the threads and figure out what was exactly behind this, Allie. Yeah, and that has been the rumblings here within Hollywood, even in the political arena, we have Elizabeth Warren weighing in on the cancellation of the Colbert Show as well. And it does seem to come as a bit of a surprise. Now, Paramount, the parent company of CBS, as you mentioned, they are trying to get to the finish line and close that deal with Skydance this year. But that needs regulatory approval. That's DC, that's Trump. So, there there have been some talk that maybe since Colbert was critical of Paramount settlement, he did call it a quote, bribe, just earlier this week. That maybe that was a factor. They're saying it was more ratings and trying to clean up their balance sheet ahead of this transaction. Now, Paramount Paramount shares are not doing too much today, uh, pretty much trading flat to the downside, just a smidge there. But you know, it it begs the the question of what's the future of linear television. What's going to be the future of these late night shows? Across the board of these legacy media companies, we've seen a lot of consolidation, a lot of turmoil. Warner Brothers Discovery plans to spin off its linear cable networks from its studio streaming business. Uh, NBC Universal, they're going to spin off a portion of that company, uh, the broadcast arm in a new company called Vercent, that's going to be the cable, uh, properties there. So the the big overarching question is who is going to be a buyer of these assets and what is Skydance going to do once this deal is complete with CBS and some of these other, uh, broadcast and legacy, uh, uh networks? So, that is the big question here. Paramount's not immune to this, but definitely a shake up here when we look at the Colbert show and just the legacy that it's had. And we still don't know when that FCC when and if that FCC approval is coming for the deal, right? Yeah, still TBD there. That's the big queue. I mean, there's so many questions here when you talk about the entertainment industry. But for Paramount that has been through the ringer here when it comes to even finding a buyer. Now that we found the buyer, we just have to get that deal approved. And you would think that we're now in a time where M&A is is starting to happen a little more quickly, that we will see that by this year, but we still don't know when when the sign off is going to be there on the regulatory front. Related Videos Fed Governor Waller thinks interest rates are over 1% too high What a GENIUS Act win would mean for bitcoin and crypto stocks Food & apparel prices tick higher: June CPI category overview Big Bank earnings: 3 key points to watch Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Washington Post
03-07-2025
- Automotive
- Washington Post
What to know about buying electric vehicles after the federal tax incentives end
The massive tax and spending cut bill that Congress passed Thursday ends federal tax incentives for electric vehicles. Buyers have until Sept. 30 to qualify for the federal tax credits on EVs before they are terminated. But experts say there are still strong financial reasons to consider buying the vehicles even without those incentives.
