CBS announced on Thursday that “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the most popular late-night show on American broadcast television and a regular venue for satire directed at President Donald Trump, will conclude its ten-year run in May 2026.
Colbert won’t be replaced, and the show will be retired. According to a network statement, new episodes will air until May 2026, when the broadcast TV season ends.
“This is a late-night financial choice made against a difficult backdrop. In the statement, CBS executives stated that it had nothing to do with the performance, content, or other issues at Paramount.
CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, is requesting permission from the US Federal Communications Commission to merge with Skydance Media for $8.4 billion.
Trump sued Paramount this month over an interview with Kamala Harris, his former Democratic opponent, that was aired on CBS’s “60 Minutes” in October.
On Thursday, Colbert revealed to his audience that the previous evening, he was notified that his program would be canceled. In response to the jeering audience, Colbert said, “Yeah, I share your feelings.”
“They won’t replace me. The comedian, who is sixty-one, stated, “This is all just going away.”
Trump applauded Friday’s show cancellation.
“I think it’s fantastic that Colbert was dismissed. In a post on Truth Social, he claimed that his talent was much worse than his ratings.
In 1993, David Letterman made his hosting debut on “The Late Show” after being passed up for NBC’s “The Tonight Show.” Colbert took over “The Late Show” in 2015. Prior to hosting “The Colbert Report” on Comedy Central, he was a regular on “The Daily Show.”
Colbert remarked, “It is a fantastic job,” on Thursday. “I wish somebody else was getting it, and it’s a job that I’m looking forward to doing with this usual gang of idiots for another 10 months.”
He expressed gratitude to the audience of his show, the 200 employees, and the CBS executives.
The guest on Thursday’s show was Democrat Senator Adam Schiff of California.
