Network reveals replacement has turned $40 million loss into $15 million profit<\/p>\n
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Published May 30, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 2\u00a0hours ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 3 minute read<\/p>\n
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Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n See more Toronto Sun on Google \u2014 save as a Preferred Source<\/a><\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authors<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n For the first time, CBS has disclosed that Stephen Colbert\u2019s now-cancelled Late Show was losing the company $40 million a year.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The broadcaster announced it was turfing the beloved late-night host last summer due to financial reasons with his final episode airing earlier this month.<\/p>\n But the decision came after Colbert mocked their $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump over a deceptively edited interview with Kamala Harris as a \u201cbig, fat bribe.\u201d<\/p>\n With Paramount in the midst of trying to acquire Skydance Studios \u2014 a deal that required the Trump administration\u2019s approval \u2014 Colbert\u2019s comments were perceived as potentially harming that acquisition.<\/p>\n But CBS executives said in a statement that ending The Late Show was \u201cpurely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night\u201d and was \u201cnot related in any way to the show\u2019s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Nielsen data, published by Forbes<\/a>, Colbert had been No. 1 in total viewers for nine straight seasons. On YouTube<\/a>, The Late Show boasts more than 10.8 million subscribers. But declining ad revenue made the economics facing linear TV particularly challenging for all the networks.<\/p>\n Your Midday Sun<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n It had been widely reported that The Late Show was costing CBS millions, but that had never been confirmed until Friday, when the network issued a statement praising Colbert\u2019s successor, Byron Allen\u2018s Comics Unleashed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re proud to partner with Byron Allen on a new business and programming model for late night that proactively addresses a network daypart that was cost-prohibitive to continue,\u201d CBS said in the statement published by Deadline<\/a> and The Daily Beast<\/a>. \u201cWith this \u2018time buy\u2019 model, we have shifted an hour that was losing roughly $40 million annually to $15 million in profit \u2014 a $55 million swing.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead of producing Comics Unleashed, Allen is buying the hour from CBS for a flat fee of $15 million a year. He will get to keep the ad revenue he generates, while CBS saves on production costs for the now-defunct Late Show. Television ratings for Comics Unleashed will be of no concern to CBS.<\/p>\n Kimmel called cancellation \u2018nonsensical\u2019<\/p>\n As reports swirled over rumours that CBS was losing $40 million a year to produce The Late Show, Colbert\u2019s fellow late-night hosts ran to his defence.<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s just not a snowball\u2019s chance in hell that that\u2019s anywhere near accurate,\u201d Jimmy Kimmel told Variety <\/a>last summer when he was asked to comment on CBS\u2019s reported loss at the time. \u201cThe idea that Stephen Colbert\u2019s show was losing $40 million a year is beyond nonsensical.\u201d<\/p>\n Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon said he was \u201cshocked\u201d by the news and called Colbert \u201ca true friend\u201d in a post shared on Instagram.<\/p>\n David Letterman, who hosted The Late Show from 1993 to 2015 before Colbert took over, addressed the production\u2019s end in an interview with The Barbara Gaines Show<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n \u201cThey don\u2019t want to spend any money, so they\u2019re going to make money,\u201d Letterman said, according to Variety<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have never been losing money \u2026 This is pure cowardice,\u201d Letterman told Gaines last year<\/a>. \u201cThey did not do the correct thing. They did not handle Stephen Colbert \u2014 the face of that network \u2014 in the way he deserves to have been handled. That\u2019s what I think.\u201d<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Donald Trump posts AI video showing him tossing Stephen Colbert in dumpster and dancing<\/p>\n <\/a> David Letterman sounds off on CBS dropping Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’<\/p>\n <\/a>Trump cheered on cancellation<\/p>\n Following the news that Colbert had been cancelled, President Trump cheered on CBS for ending his program.<\/p>\n Shortly after Colbert\u2019s final episode on May 21, Trump slammed the comedian in a Truth Social<\/a> post shared at 1:52 a.m., writing that he had \u201cno talent, no ratings, no life.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump then posted an AI-generated video<\/a> that showed him dumping Colbert in a garbage bin and dancing.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n![\"Stephen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2225503379_297800315-e1774445283840.jpg\")
Stephen Colbert arrives for the 74th Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, on Sept. 12, 2022. Photo by ROBYN BECK \/AFP via Getty ImagesArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Toronto](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/21.3.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-tsun.svg\"){kind=logo}
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