Did money or politics cause Colbert cancellation? Either way, the economics are tough for TV

By DAVID BAUDER CBS says its decision to end Stephen Colbert s late-night comedy show is financial not political Yet even with the ample skepticism about that explanation there s no denying the economics were not working in Colbert s favor Related Articles Hegseth tells lawmakers about plan to detain immigrants at bases in Indiana and New Jersey Justice Department asks court to unseal Epstein grand jury records to contain firestorm Trump s attacks on Powell threaten the Fed s independence Here s why it matters Venezuela releases jailed Americans in deal that frees movers deported to El Salvador by US Trump administration seeks release of Epstein grand jury records but not Justice Department files The infrastructure s bombshell announcement late Thursday that the Late Show will end next May takes away President Donald Trump s most of prominent TV critic and the largest part popular entertainment project in its genre The television industry s declining economic physical condition means similar hard calls are already being made with personalities and initiatives with others to be faced in the future For the late-night genre there are unique factors to consider As of late as broadcast networks took in an estimated million in advertising revenue for its late-night programs according to the advertising firm Guidelines Last year that number dwindled to million Once a draw for young men now they ve turned away Late-night TV was a particular draw for young men considered the hardest-to-get and majority valuable demographic for advertisers Increasingly these viewers are turning to streaming services either to watch something else entirely or catch highlights of the late-night shows which are more hard for the networks to monetize More broadly the much-predicted takeover of viewers by streaming services is coming to pass The Nielsen company published that during the last two months for the first time ever more people consumed offerings on services like YouTube and Netflix than on ABC CBS and NBC or any cable infrastructure Networks and streamers spent roughly billion on entertainment shows and billion for sports rights last year reported Brian Wieser CEO of Madison Wall an advertising consultant and statistics services firm Live sports is the preponderance dependable magnet for viewers and costs for its rights are expected to increase a year over the next decade With television viewership declining in general it s clear where savings will have to come from Wieser declared he does not know whether Colbert s show is profitable or not for CBS and parent company Paramount Global but he knows the direction in which it is headed The economics of television are weak he announced In a report announcing the cancellation George Cheeks Paramount Global s president and chief executive officer reported that This is 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 Cheeks issue is that not everyone believes him Colbert is a relentless critic of Trump and earlier this week pointedly criticized Paramount s decision to settle Trump s lawsuit against CBS over a Minutes interview with Kamala Harris He called Paramount s million payment to Trump a big fat bribe since the company is seeking the administration s approval of its merger with Skydance Media On Friday the Writers Guild of America called for an scrutiny by New York s attorney general into whether Colbert s cancellation is itself a bribe sacrificing free speech to curry favor with the Trump administration as the company looks for merger approval CBS decision made this a pivotal week for the future of television and radio services Congress stripped federal funding for PBS and NPR threatening the future of shows on those outlets Journey Gunderson executive director of the National Comedy Center called the decision to end Colbert s show the end of an era Late-night television has historically been one of comedy s majority audience-accessible platforms a place where commentary meets region night after night Gunderson declared This isn t just the end of a show It s the quiet removal of one of the limited remaining platforms for daily comedic commentary Trump celebrates Colbert s demise Trump who has called in the past for CBS to terminate Colbert s contract celebrated the show s upcoming demise I absolutely love that Colbert got fired the president wrote on Truth Social His talent was even less than his ratings Particular experts questioned whether CBS could have explored other procedures to save money on Colbert NBC for example has cut costs by eliminating the band on Seth Meyers late-night show and curtailing Jimmy Fallon s Tonight show to four nights a week Could CBS have saved more money by cutting off the show straightaway instead of letting it run until next May which sets up an awkward lame duck period Then again Colbert will keep working until his contract runs out CBS would have had to keep paying him anyway CBS lately cancelled the After Midnight show that ran after Colbert But the structure had signaled earlier this year that it was prepared to continue that show until host Taylor Tomlinson decided that she required to leave noted Bill Carter author of The Late Shift It is a very sad day for CBS that they are getting out of the late-night race Andy Cohen host of Bravo s Watch What Happens Live informed The Associated Press I mean they are turning off the lights after the news Colbert if he demanded to continue past next May would likely be able to find a streaming operation willing to pay him Wieser commented But the future of late-night comedy on the entertainment networks is genuinely at peril Trump in fact may outlast his fiercest comic critics Jon Stewart once a weeknight fixture works one night a week at The Daily Show for Paramount s Comedy Central a grid that seldom produces much original initiatives any more ABC s Jimmy Kimmel who was chided on social media by Trump on Friday I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next has a contract that also runs out next year Kimmel openly wondered in a Variety interview before signing his latest three-year contract extension how long he desired to do it He s hosted his show since I have moments where I go I cannot do this anymore Kimmel communicated Variety in And I have moments where I go what am I gonna do with my life if I m not doing this anymore It s a very complicated thing I m not going to do this forever Colbert Kimmel and Stewart were all nominated for Emmy awards this week AP journalist Liam McEwan in Los Angeles contributed to this overview David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP Follow him at http x com dbauder and https bsky app profile dbauder bsky social