With 10 seasons, the Emmy Award-nominated show is highly distinguished for the host’s sharp wit and his views on a variety of trending topics. The show leads the television rating point (TRP) of late-night shows in total viewers and is the only show to improve the viewership among the late-night programs.
Confirmed on Thursday, July 17, 2025, CBS ended an era of the legendary late night show. The primarily reason that has been revealed yet is the financial issues that the network faced.
In the official statement, CBS emphasised that the closure of the show was “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content, or other matters.” Rather, this is a cost-cutting move in a shifting late-night TV landscape.
The move leaves the network without a late-night comedy talk show for the first time since 1993.
The host of the show, Stephen Colbert reasserted this decision during Thursday, July 17, 2025’s taping with his live studio audience, prompting loud boos and cries of disappointment. “It’s not just the end of our show, but it’s the end of The Late Show on CBS,” he said. “I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.”
The Late Show premiered in 1993 as the response to the Tonight Show of NBC through the rivalry of David Letterman and Jay Leno appearance-wise. Colbert replaced Letterman in 2015 and turned the show into an edged political satire, later positioning himself among the most outspoken critics of President Donald Trump.
A show called The Colbert Report on Comedy Central that was a satire on the conservative press that followed established Colbert as an incisive commentator before The Late Show. His stint with CBS has been characterised by great numbers and critical recognition, and with the cancellation sets it even more unexpected.
The decision was reportedly made just two weeks after CBS’s parent company, Paramount, settled a $16 million lawsuit with Trump.
The lawsuit emerged as a result of a 60 minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, which Trump claimed to be deceptively edited.
While the channel addressed this aspect by claiming that the settlement had no bearing on The Late Show’s fate, it created speculations among fans.
Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, who recently recorded an interview on this show, posted on X: “If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.”
Regarding the settlement amount, Paramount confirmed that the funds were allocated to Trump’s future presidential library, not paid directly to him.
