Prediction: Stephen Colbert Won't Last On CBS Until May
Colbert opened the Monday edition of the "Late Show" by mocking his employer.
CBS says Stephen Colbert will remain on the air through May 2026, but it's hard to imagine him lasting that long.
For the third straight week, Colbert opened the Monday edition of the "Late Show" by mocking his employer, specifically parent company Paramount Global.
"I’m thrilled for everyone at Paramount that the deal went through and very excited for our newly-announced, official combined Paramount-Skydance stock ticker name, which will go from PARA to PSKY," Colbert opened his show this week. "Soon, PSKY will blast hot, streaming content right in your face with hits like Yellowstone, Yellowjackets, and a full variety of water sports. I predict PSKY will become synonymous with number one. PSKY: A pitcher of warm entertainment."
He continued, "After months of delay, the deal was finally approved by FCC chairman and brilliant handsome man who Paramount officials described as ‘liquid sex’, Brendan Carr. Commissioner Carr knows that our show was losing tens of millions of dollars and Trump did not have anything to do with the cancellation, as he explained on Fox News."
Since CBS announced Colbert's exit, his supporters – and CNN – have accused the network of trying to appease Donald Trump, whose FCC had to approve the proposed merger with Skydance.
Of course, Trump had nothing to do with the decision. CBS canceled Colbert's late-night show because it was losing $40 million a year due to high production costs and low ratings.
If anything, Skydance was likely to party that influenced CBS's decision. According to industry sources, Skydance CEO David Ellison hopes to bring political balance back to CBS properties after the merger in August. And no one on television would be more of a detriment to Ellison's plans than Colbert, a far-left partisan.
Colbert has had 176 liberal guests and only one Republican on his show since 2022, according to a recent MRC NewsBusters study.
Thereby, the prediction here is that Ellison won't keep Colbert on CBS until May. He certainly won't put up with the host taking potshots at the company on-air.
NEW YORK - JANUARY 9: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and guest Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, during Tuesdays January 10, 2023 show. (Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)
In fact, Colbert may accelerate his own exit by continuing his antagonistic behavior. He seems to recognize that his appeal to a moderate audience is over — there’s no walking back the past few years. Thus, he appears intent on positioning himself as a martyr, knowing his future in entertainment depends on maintaining favor with Hollywood and other far-left circles.
The more defiant Colbert is toward his employer — a company progressives distanced themselves from after its $16 million settlement with Trump — the more likely he is to land a role with platforms like Disney’s Hulu, Comcast’s Peacock, or even CNN.
In actuality, there's no reason to begin the 11th season of the "Late Show" in January with a planned May cancellation. If tensions remain high, Skydance could choose to take Colbert off the air as early as this fall.
The sooner CBS takes Colbert off the air, the sooner it can begin to recoup the losses his show caused.
For more on the decline of late-night television, here is our deep dive from last week explaining how the industry's negative fixation on Donald Trump caused it to lose favor with ordinary Americans.