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Forbes
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Jimmy Kimmel's Contract, Stephen Colbert And The Future Of Late Night
"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" airs every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. EDT The fate of late night TV may now be with Jimmy Kimmel Live. Host Jimmy Kimmel's contract with Disney is set to end in 2026, and its renewal or lapse will say something about the genre more generally. CBS recently canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. While the news came after Colbert criticised his parent company and Donald Trump, CBS maintains that it was 'purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night." The CBS show is among the most popular late night programs. However, it was revealed that it costs over $100 million annually to produce while losing over $40 million per year. According to someone familiar with the show, the budget includes a live band, a 200-person staff and Colbert's annual $20 million salary. Whether Colbert's cancellation has more to do with politics or finances, it leaves late night in a precarious position. Late night has been declining in recent years. Earlier this year, Taylor Tomlinson left her hosting position on CBS's After Midnight, and instead of replacing her, the network canceled the program. Now, with Colbert's cancellation, CBS will not have a late-night comedy show going forward, a first in over 30 years. In Q2 of 2025, The Late Show saw 2.42 million in viewership, while Jimmy Kimmel Live saw 1.77 million. The ABC late-night show may well have a lower budget; both the show's budget and Kimmel's salary have not been published. However, canceling a more popular show the year before salary negotiations with Kimmel may leave late night in a precarious spot. Late night has been declining in viewership for years, and it is unclear if Colbert's cancellation will be a one-off or a fundamental shift in late-night TV. NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers were both recently extended until 2028. NBC is also home to Saturday Night Live. However, SNL is a bit of an outlier since it isn't the typical late night talk show format and recently hit a 3-year ratings high for its most recent 50th season. Outside of broadcast networks, shows like HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Comedy Central's The Daily Show and Fox News's Gutfeld! may also face issues in a collapsing late night space. These shows are somewhat separate from the traditional broadcast approach to late night TV. However, the number of late night politics shows on cable networks has also fallen in recent years. Much of the decline of late-night comedy TV has been linked to streaming and VOD programming. While Netflix has entered the 'late night' space with 2018's My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman and, more recently, Everybody's Live with John Mulaney in 2025, streaming services have largely not adopted the late night model. The future is unclear for broadcast late night programming, and late night more generally, but a decision on Kimmel will mean a lot for the industry in the upcoming year.
CNN
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Inside CBS' ‘agonizing decision' to cancel Colbert's top-rated late-night show
From the outside, the idea made no sense at all. Why would a broadcast network cancel one of its best-known shows that ranks number one in its time slot? But on the inside, at CBS, there were several plausible answers to that question. While 'The Late Show' host Stephen Colbert was on his usual mid-summer vacation earlier this month, CBS executives weighed the pros and cons of canceling the unique but unfortunately unprofitable show. The 'cons' were obvious, as evidenced by the studio audience's boos when Colbert announced the cancellation on Thursday night. However, the 'pros' ultimately won out because, according to sources close to the network, 'The Late Show' was losing money and there was no apparent path to turning around its financial position. Get Reliable Sources newsletter Sign up here to receive Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter in your inbox. It was an 'agonizing decision,' as the executives admitted in a statement. But CBS insiders insist, even when speaking frankly on condition of anonymity, that the move was financially driven, not politically motivated. Many observers have huge doubts about that, given that Colbert has been an outspoken critic of President Trump. So here's what the data indicates. The bottom has indeed been falling out of the late-night TV business model for several years now. Audience fragmentation and digital competition have led to a decline in ad revenue across the board. One insider described it as 'cratering' at CBS. That's because, even though Colbert outrated his competition at 11:35 p.m., the overall audience for late-night has been shrinking. 'Ad dollars and audiences are moving away from late night shows,' Variety reported — and that was back in 2023. The financial picture has only gotten gloomier since then. Guideline, an ad data firm, estimates that the networks' late-night shows earned $439 million in ad revenue in 2018 and only $220 million in 2024 — a decline of 50 percent. The shows hosted by Colbert and his rivals, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, are inherently expensive to produce, with hundreds of staffers and elaborate studio productions. But couldn't CBS have explored changes to the cost structure? That's what the network did later in the evening, in its 12:35 a.m. time slot, in 2023. 'The Late Late Show with James Corden' ended, partly due to the fact that it was no longer making money for CBS, and a cheaper show called 'After Midnight' was launched in its place. Colbert was an executive producer on both 'After Midnight' and 'The Late Show,' so he had some visibility into the financial circumstances. But the swiftness of the network's decision suggests that he wasn't given much time to suggest cost savings or other alternatives. That's why one person close to Colbert described the show's retirement, effective in May 2026, as a 'casualty of the merger.' That merger is CBS parent Paramount's long-gestating deal with Skydance, a media company controlled by David Ellison, son of Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison. The elder Ellison is a longtime friend of President Trump and has previously described himself as a Trump supporter. And David Ellison was spotted with the president earlier this year at UFC matches. The pending deal matters for two reasons: One, because companies almost always try to cut costs around the time of a merger; and two, because the deal requires sign-off from the Trump administration. Paramount entered into a settlement agreement with Trump earlier this month to resolve Trump's lawsuit against the CBS News program '60 Minutes.' The company said it would pay $16 million toward Trump's future presidential library. Trump suggested at the time that there were other components to the settlement. While there is no evidence that Colbert's cancellation is connected to the settlement, Democratic senators like Elizabeth Warren are asking questions about the possibility. 'America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons,' Warren said in a statement Thursday night. At the very least, CBS executives moved forward with the retirement of 'The Late Show' franchise knowing that the optics would cause all manner of controversy. Trump personally celebrated the cancellation on Friday morning, writing on Truth Social that 'I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!'
Time of India
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
The 'Late' Show: End of an era as CBS cancels Trump critique's Stephen Colbert's popular show
Stephen Colbert (AP image) CBS has announced that it will end 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' in May 2026, marking the network's exit from late-night television. The decision, which CBS says is based on financial concerns, comes despite the show being one of the highest-rated programs in the late-night slot. The cancellation has drawn significant attention, especially as it follows a recent legal settlement between CBS's parent company, Paramount and President Donald Trump . That settlement, combined with Paramount's upcoming merger with Skydance Media, has raised questions about Colbert's future particularly given his outspoken criticism of Trump. In his return to the show earlier this week, Colbert condemned the Paramount's settlement with Trump, comparing it to a "big fat bribe." CBS however, have issued a statement emphasizing that the show's cancellation is purely due to financial challenges and not related to the show's content, performance or politics. Paramount, which owns CBS, laid off 3.5% of its workforce last month. A source close to the network confirmed that falling advertising revenue has made The Late Show unprofitable, as reported by CNN. Colbert shared the news with his audience during a taping on Thursday evening. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Buy Resmed AirSense 11 with flat 20% off ResMed Buy Now Undo 'Next year will be our last season,' he said. 'The network will be ending our show in May. It's the end of The Late Show on CBS.' The audience was visibly shocked upon hearing the announcement, while some observers immediately raised concerns about Paramount's motivation. US Senator Adam Schiff, who was a guest on Thursday's show, wrote in a post on X, 'If Paramount and CBS ended The Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.' Colbert expressed gratitude toward CBS and the show's audience, saying,'I'm so grateful to the Tiffany network for giving me this chair and this beautiful theater to call home. And of course, I'm grateful to you, the audience, who have joined us every night in here, out there, all around the world.' 'The Late Show' has been a popular franchise of CBS for over three decades. Originally hosted by David Letterman , who launched the show in the 1990s, it became known for its 'Top Ten' lists and quirky segments. Colbert took over in 2015 and brought a sharp edge political humour to the show, especially after Trump's 2016 election. Colbert's sharp critiques of Trump helped the show top the late-night ratings, giving CBS its strongest performance in the slot in two decades. He has remained a vocal critic during Trump's second term, even as CBS faced legal pressure from the president. CBS previously ended 'The Late Late Show' with James Corden in 2023 due to financial concerns. Colbert helped produce a much less expensive replacement show, 'After Midnight' which also concluded earlier this year. CBS said that the show ended because its host, Taylor Tomlinson, did not want to host another season.
Car and Driver
17-07-2025
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
View Photos of the 2026 GMC Acadia Denali Ultimate
The 22-inch wheels on the Denali Ultimate have a twin-spoke look and are finished in After Midnight metallic.
Scotsman
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Dylan Adler brings unhinged musical vomedy to the Fringe
Dylan Adler brings his unique blend of musical comedy and personal storytelling to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August with Haus of Dy-lan, performing at the Pleasance Courtyard's Beside space from 30 July to 24 August (not 11th) at 7.30pm. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Making his Edinburgh debut, Adler offers an hour of high-energy stand-up, original songs and unfiltered anecdotes drawn from his life as a gay, Japanese-Jewish performer growing up in San Francisco. His show is a whirlwind of piano, punchlines, and personal revelations – with the occasional bout of acrobatics thrown in for good measure. Adler, a classically trained pianist turned 'unhinged gay musical comic,' dives headfirst into his own life for comic material. Expect songs, sweat, and sincerity as he unpacks growing up as an identical gay twin, navigating racial identity ('double JAP,' as he puts it), and the very real chaos of therapy. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Think theatre kid meets trauma dump – with jazz hands,' Adler jokes. Dylan Adler The show touches on everything from playground bullying (in two languages, no less) to his grandfather's stint training as a kamikaze pilot during WWII – a figure he says he feels connected to 'whenever I feel mentally ill or spiteful of the USA.' Adler's comedy doesn't shy away from the dark stuff – he confronts past sexual trauma, failed relationships and the bizarre mundanity of adult life ('stealing your therapist's toilet paper') with disarming honesty and blistering wit. Whether riffing on heteronormative habits in a gay relationship or screaming at his therapist in song, Adler masterfully blends sharp punchlines with theatrical flair. Already a familiar face stateside, Adler has written and performed for The Late Late Show with James Corden and appeared twice on After Midnight alongside comedy heavyweights Margaret Cho and Atsuko Okatsuka. He also starred in Chelsea Peretti's First Time Female Director and lent his voice to a supervillain role on Disney's Hamster and Gretel. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad No stranger to the stage, Adler has opened for Atsuko Okatsuka on her US and European tours, including stops at London's Eventim Apollo and Glasgow's O2 Academy. His previous shows have earned critical acclaim – his 2022 collaboration Rape Victims Are Horny Too with Kelly Bachman was ranked #2 in Paste Magazine's Best Comedy Albums of the Year, and last year's Haus of Dy-lan wowed audiences at Netflix Is A Joke Festival. Also a gifted composer, Adler co-wrote Good Morning New York, which played Off-Broadway, and received the Alan Menken Scholarship for emerging musical theatre talent. With an hour packed with camp, catharsis and chaos, Haus of Dy-lan promises to be one of the more distinctive and daring debuts at this year's Fringe.
