by: Alana Brown-Davis
In a surprising and honestly disappointing move, CBS announced the cancellation of ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’. The show has been on since 2015 when David Letterman closed his show, becoming a staple of late-night television in the new millennium. This marks a gruesome time for late-night as the sector has had a bit of a strain on it in recent years.The decision seemed to be fueled by finances and the inability to make any signficiant turnaround. Ratings for late night talk shows have been in decline for quite a while. A lot of this has to due with regular cable television’s inability to stand tall against streaming along with overall expenses.
What Does the Cancellation of ‘Stephen Colbert’ Mean for Late Night TV?
Advertising dollars have shrunk as well mainly due to shifts in traditional TV viewership, furthering the gains in streaming. Because of this the TV Upfront Market, where advertisers commit to spending in the new seasons has dropped. These advertisers are instead switching their focus to you guessed it… streaming. An article by Ad Week drew the picture for this conundrum perfectly.
“Data from Guideline shared with ADWEEK noted that The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Jimmy Kimmel Live! combined for around $404 million in linear TV ad revenue in 2018. That dropped by half to around $200 million in 2024. Meanwhile, The Late Show had around $121 million in linear TV ad spend in 2018; however, it had around only $70 million total in 2024, a decline of 42% per the data.”
Not only will the show end, it also will not be replaced bringing a decades old gem of American TV to a close. This virtually removes CBS from late-night as a whole. ‘The Late Late Show with James Corden’ ended in 2023. It was followed by ‘After Midnight’ hosted by Taylor Tomlinson who is walking away from the show after two seasons. If this trend continues, the power of late night shows as well as linear TV could face a dark future.