Late-Night Is Officially On Life Support Following Stephen Colbert Cancellation

Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, and the future of late-night television are officially on notice.

On Thursday, CBS announced that "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" would air its final episode in May 2026. The Left immediately couched the cancellation as an effort by CBS to accommodate Donald Trump's dictatorial fantasies. The announcement has MSNBC host Chris Hayes questioning the legitimacy of the republic.

"Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repercussions," Hayes posted on X.

It's true that CBS's parent company, Paramount Global, recently settled with Trump for $16 million after deceptively editing an interview with his then-political rival Kamala Harris in October. It's also true that Paramount's proposed merger with Skydance Media is awaiting federal approval. However, Colbert's impending exit from CBS is unrelated to the company's rocky relationship with the president. 

As OutKick predicted two summers ago, CBS and the other broadcast networks are looking to exit the late-night business. That's why CBS is canceling Colbert.

James Corden, whose show Colbert led into, was the first domino. CBS canceled Corden's late-night series in 2023 because it was reportedly losing around $20 million a year. Though Corden's show had lower viewership, Colbert's costs much more to produce. Specifically, CBS paid Corden $5 million a year and Colbert around $20 million.

So, how could CBS turn a profit by spending that much on Colbert? Put simply, it couldn't. Not in 2025, when late night as a whole (CBS, ABC, and NBC) generates just $220 million a year in ad revenue. For reference, the New York Times reported on Thursday that in 2018, late-night television took in $439 million in ad revenue. That's a 50% drop in just seven years.

But as ad revenue dwindles, the cost of production continues to rise. According to Puck News, producing Colbert's show cost CBS more than $100 million a year, and it annually lost more than $40 million.

That, not Donald Trump, is why CBS is canceling late-night television. And that's why NBC and ABC are likely to follow.

Colbert's show lost all that money despite comfortably outpacing the competition in viewership. In the second quarter of 2025, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" averaged 2.42 million viewers. Comparatively, ABC’s "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" averaged 1.77 million and NBC’s "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" just 1.19 million.

Kimmel and Fallon make just as much as Colbert and bring in less revenue (based on traditional ad sales, sources say NBC's ancillary revenue is higher than CBS'). Thus, NBC and ABC are likely losing as much, if not more, money on late-night than CBS is.

Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon via Getty.

The fall in late-night popularity is hardly complex. Far fewer Americans watch traditional television now than at any point before. In addition, hosts like Colbert and Kimmel have cut their audiences in half with a hard-left shift toward political commentary. A recent NewsBusters study found that 99% of late-night guests so far in 2025 were considered "left-wing." 

Moreover, late-night shows used to be the go-to venue to hear from actors, musicians, and comedians. With the advent of social media and podcasting, fans don't need to turn on late-night to hear from their favorite celebrities. The model is archaic.

There's an argument that the channels could replace the current hosts with younger, cheaper talent. But such moves would still likely fall under the profitability line. Broadcast networks are better off running re-airs, local news, or scripted dramas instead. A Puck News report on Thursday added that while late-night loses tens of millions a year, CBS's primetime and daytime lineups are still profitable.

Critics would point to the successes of Bill Maher and Greg Gutfeld (who now airs in primetime at 10 p.m.) as proof that late-night comedy still has a place in the market. We aren't so sure. 

In Gutfeld's case, Fox News has a defined, dedicated audience that the broadcast networks don't. Notice Fox is also having success on the weekends with comedian Jimmy Failla. As for Maher, "Real Time" airs just once a week and is built around his opening and closing editorials. There aren't many comedians with the talent and respect from both sides of the political aisle that could pull that off. Maher is also on HBO with no commercial breaks, FCC standards, or threats of advertiser boycotts.

As a practical matter, late-night is a relic of previous generations. Not this one. The genre is no longer financially feasible or relevant in the daily zeitgeist.  If Colbert, the biggest draw in late-night, can't make it, there's no reason to believe any of the others can for much longer.