Latest news with #Skydance
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
As The Writers Guild Calls For An Investigation Into Colbert's Late Show Cancellation, Allegations Of An Ugly Financial Picture Are Starting To Emerge
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Even with the weekend to process, Hollywood is still in shock over CBS cancelling The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. The long-running talk show was winning its timeslot comfortably in the ratings and was widely considered a flagship show for the network, but none of that was enough to keep it on the air. It'll officially end in May of 2026, though the why behind it all is still a fierce matter of debate. When CBS announced the cancellation, it said it was purely a financial decision, but to many fans, the timing of it all is quite curious. The network is in the middle of a planned merger with Skydance, a media company run by the Ellison Family, who have close personal ties to President Trump. Earlier the same week, Colbert blasted CBS for settling a lawsuit with the President over a 60 Minutes story and paying $16M toward his Presidential Library. He called the money a 'big fat bribe' and used other colorful language to make it clear he was disappointed in his bosses. Immediately after the cancellation, The Writers Guild Of America released a statement calling on New York State Attorney General Letitia James to launch an investigation into the cancellation and whether it was due to 'political pressure.' Prominent Democratic politicians took to social media to say they were worried about the free speech implications of Colbert being muzzled and joined the calls for further investigation. Those concerns were also shared loudly and consistently by celebrities and common fans across the Internet in the days after the cancellation. New alleged information about The Late Show With Stephen Colbert's finances are starting to emerge, however, and they seem to support CBS' contention that there was a money problem. Sources told CNN that the show was losing money, and over the last year, ad rates have started 'cratering' on late night television. The late night shows across the major networks reportedly brought in $439M in ad revenue in 2018 but just $220M in 2024. That's a massive shortfall in earnings and a huge problem for a live show that requires a large dedicated staff to run. I haven't seen anyone at CBS release specific financial numbers for The Late Show, but all the rumblings seem to paint the same picture. Ad rates have fallen a lot and are continuing to fall. A lot of TV networks have been able to mitigate that for some shows by selling the streaming rights, but people aren't really interested in watching old episodes of late night talk shows. Clips going viral can be a source of revenue on social media, but ad rates on pre-rolls just aren't enough given something like The Late Show's budget. Ultimately, we don't know what happened here. If CBS and all the unnamed sources are to be believed, the show was losing money, and if the network thought the situation was only going to get worse, you can see why executives made the decision to move on. That being said, given the frankness Colbert has in criticizing President Trump and his own bosses, as well as the timing of CBS' settlement and the upcoming merger, it's easy to see why many people think there's more to this than just dollars and cents. In fact, it's always possible that both reasons played a role. Expect to hear a lot more about this story in the coming months. With nothing to lose, it's possible Colbert will be even louder in his rhetoric than he has been, and with all this interest, it's likely several journalists will attempt to really dive in and figure out exactly what happened. Solve the daily Crossword
The Verge
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Can South Park save Paramount Plus?
Can South Park save Paramount Plus? With a $1.5 billion five-year deal to lock the irreverent show down and take it away from HBO Max, the streaming service clearly thinks so. Paramonut Plus is steadily gaining subscribers, but lags behind rivals when it comes to the most popular content, and securing South Park might just help. And hey, if it distracts from stories about its troubled Skydance merger and payouts to Trump, that can't hurt either, right?
NBC News
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- NBC News
Jon Stewart rips Paramount and CBS in profanity-laden diatribe after cancellation of Colbert's ‘Late Show'
Jon Stewart lambasted CBS' decision to cancel 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' on Monday's episode of 'The Daily Show,' ripping their shared parent company, Paramount Global, for what he called a capitulation to President Donald Trump. Stewart referred to Paramount's intended merger with Skydance in an $8 billion deal, which is pending government approval, and said shows like "The Late Show" made CBS that money. "Shows that say something, shows that take a stand, shows that are unafraid," Stewart said. "This is not a 'We speak truth to power' — we don't. We speak opinions to television cameras. But we try. We f------ try, every night. "And if you believe, as corporations or as networks, you can make yourself so innocuous that you can serve a gruel so flavorless that you will never again be on the boy king's radar — a.) why will anyone watch you? And you are f------- wrong." The profanity-laced segment, which aired uncensored, culminated in Stewart leading a church choir encouraging institutions to 'sack the f--- up' or 'go f--- yourself.' (Cable channels like Comedy Central, which airs "The Daily Show," are not subject to the same profanity regulations as network stations.) Paramount and Comedy Central did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Minutes later, Colbert on "Late Night" echoed Stewart in responding to Trump's celebrating his show's cancellation, offering his own "go f--- yourself" to the president. Stewart's diatribe comes less than a week after it was announced that CBS would be canceling 'The Late Show,' a stalwart of late-night television that Colbert took over in 2015. CBS said it was 'purely a financial decision' and 'not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.' Still, the news shook the entertainment industry and immediately fueled speculation that Colbert's show, which regularly skewered President Trump, had been a casualty of Paramount Global's efforts to merge with Skydance Media. That deal has been the subject of particular scrutiny as it awaits approval from Trump's Federal Communications Commission. While media mergers and acquisitions have long been the subject of regulatory scrutiny over the outside power of consolidated companies, the Paramount-Skydance deal has taken on a particularly political flavor. Last week, David Ellison, Skydance's CEO, met with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and made a promise to embrace 'diverse viewpoints' that will reflect 'the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers.' Since Skydance announced its intention to merge with Paramount in an $8 billion transaction a year ago, the deal has faced multiple delays — first under the outgoing Biden administration, then under Trump, who accused CBS News' marquee program, '60 Minutes,' of distorting an interview with Democratic opponent Kamala Harris during the 2024 election and subsequently filed a lawsuit. While many legal experts viewed the suit as frivolous, media reports said Paramount boss Shari Redstone favored exploring a settlement with Trump as a way to overcome further regulatory hurdles. The settlement, for $16 million, was announced earlier this month. The settlement, and the negotiations leading up to it, rankled several high-profile members of CBS. '60 Minutes' correspondent Scott Pelley said in June that such an agreement would be 'very damaging' to CBS and Paramount. In April, longtime '60 Minutes' editor Bill Owens stepped down, citing the program's loss of editorial independence. CBS News boss Wendy McMahon quit a month later. On Monday's episode of 'The Late Show,' Colbert blasted the agreement as a 'big fat bribe.' Stewart and Colbert have been close for years, dating back to when Colbert joined 'The Daily Show' in 1997. In 2005, 'The Colbert Report' debuted, airing after 'The Daily Show' and launching Colbert into stardom. Skydance is run by David Ellison, son of Oracle founder and Trump ally Larry Ellison. While the younger Ellison made a donation to President Joe Biden's reelection fund in February 2024 shortly before the former president bowed out of the race, Trump recently signaled his comfort with his takeover of Paramount and its assets, which in addition to CBS News also include Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, The CW, MTV, BET and film franchises like "Smurfs" and "Sonic the Hedgehog." Stewart on Monday's "The Daily Show" said that Colbert challenged himself with taking on "The Tonight Show," with its vastly larger audience and scrutiny. "Watching Stephen exceed all expectations in the role and become the No. 1 late-night show on network television has been an undeniable great pleasure for me — as a viewer and as his friend," Stewart said. Stewart acknowledged that late-night television is a struggling financial model. "We're all basically operating a Blockbuster kiosk inside of a Tower Records," he said, but he added that when industries change, abandonment is not the answer. "When CDs stopped selling, they didn't just go, 'Oh, well, music, it's been a good run,'" he said. Stewart, who said last week that he had not heard from Paramount about his show under the merger, made a joke about his own future. 'This is not the moment to give in,' Stewart said. 'I'm not giving in. I'm not going anywhere — I think.'
Business Times
19 hours ago
- Business
- Business Times
Oracle in talks for US$100 million Skydance-Paramount cloud deal
[NEW YORK] Oracle is in discussions with Skydance Media for a major software deal once the media company's acquisition of Paramount Global is complete. The new arrangement is expected to be worth about US$100 million per year, according to sources familiar with the matter who asked not to be named speaking about the private discussions. The agreement would see Paramount and its subsidiaries using Oracle's cloud software, the sources said. Skydance was founded by David Ellison, the son of Oracle chairman Larry Ellison. The company already uses Oracle software, spending US$2.2 million on cloud infrastructure and platform products in the fiscal year that ended in May 2024, according to a company filing. The elder Ellison is helping bankroll Skydance's acquisition, which involves US$8 billion in cash payments and investment. A spokesperson for Skydance declined to comment. Paramount and Oracle did not respond to requests for comment. This deal would make the combined Skydance-Paramount a major cloud client of Oracle's. It could also potentially save Paramount hundreds of millions of US dollars as they update their systems, according to one of the sources familiar with the plans. Paramount owns a cadre of media properties such as the CBS and MTV networks, which create large amounts of memory-heavy video and audio and would be hosted in Oracle's cloud servers. David Ellison has said he plans to run Paramount more efficiently, in part by updating its technology. Details of the agreement could still change, the sources said. The Paramount-Skydance merger, first announced last year, has one big hurdle left – approval by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). David Ellison met last week with FCC chairman Brendan Carr and other commission staff members to pitch the deal. Earlier this month, Paramount settled a suit alleging media bias at CBS News brought by US President Donald Trump. On Monday (Jul 21), US Senators sent a letter to Ellison asking whether the settlement was connected to efforts to complete the merger. Oracle, known for its database software, has gained traction in the market for renting out computing power and storage over the internet, in part by targeting clients focused on artificial intelligence work. It counts companies including TikTok, Zoom Communications and Uber Technologies, as major customers. BLOOMBERG
New York Post
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Stephen Colbert fans' cancellation hysteria takes Trump Derangement Syndrome to the max
Stephen Colbert is at the center of a conspiracy theory. It was born last week, when news broke of CBS canceling Colbert's late-night talk show. The network's move wasn't hard to understand: 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' reportedly loses $40 million a year, and Colbert is already in the final year of his contract. Viewership for all the late-night gabfests is evaporating — there's no recovery in sight. Colbert is No. 1 in his timeslot, but his show costs $100 million a year to produce and doesn't bring in nearly enough eyeballs to attract the ad revenue to cover that. So in what universe does CBS renew Colbert and keep losing tens of millions of dollars? The conspiracy theory instantly popular among Democrats and many in the media who ought to know better, however, says Colbert is really being taken off air to please Donald Trump. If the Federal Communications Commission allows it, Paramount Global, owner of CBS, will soon merge with Skydance, a company owned by David Ellison, whose father is a major Trump supporter. The president doesn't like being lampooned by Colbert; he's happy to see his show end. Trump benefits, so Trump must be to blame — right? For those who suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome, there are no coincidences. The truth is as clear as if Trump had been caught with his arms around the president of CBS Studios at a Coldplay concert. You see, if not for Trump's FCC leverage over the network, CBS would have been content to keep losing millions on Colbert for years to come. That's the crackpot view, and it's politically convenient for Democrats, who've done their utmost to promote it. Sen. Adam Schiff was a guest on the show the night Colbert announced its cancellation, and along with fellow Democratic Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, he took to X that evening to plant the seeds of conspiracy. 'If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better,' Schiff wrote, feeling no need to offer evidence for the insinuation. 'CBS canceled Colbert's show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump — a deal that looks like bribery,' Warren posted, referring to CBS's settlement of a lawsuit over '60 Minutes.' 'Do I think this is a coincidence? NO,' Sanders chimed in. The party instantly had its line, with shouty caps to drive it home. It worked — Bluesky and Facebook lit up with liberals saying free speech was under attack by Trump, while CNN's Brian Stelter, even as he reported the dismal financial reality of the 'unfortunately unprofitable' show, packed his story with the conspiracy narrative. Stelter devoted more than a third of his report — titled 'Inside CBS' 'agonizing decision' to cancel Colbert's top-rated late-night show' — to speculation about how the pending sale to Skydance might have influenced CBS, with heavy emphasis on the Trump angle. Stelter even added his own spin, attempting to patch up one of the conspiracy tale's obvious holes by suggesting CBS could have kept Colbert on air by cutting costs, since Colbert had produced a much cheaper show, 'After Midnight with Taylor Tomlinson,' that CBS was willing to renew. But that's absurd — 'After Midnight' is already canceled; CBS canned it when Tomlinson announced her departure to return to stand-up comedy. And while she might well love the live stage, it's obvious that running a late-night show on the cheap means paying hosts less, too little to keep Tomlinson. How little would Colbert, currently raking in a reported $15 to $20 million a year, settle for? Colbert loses viewers and advertisers even with a $100 million budget — how poorly would a Colbert show more than 40% cheaper do? Hollywood Reporter notes the average age of Colbert's viewers is 68. According to CNBC, the average age of David Letterman's viewers when he handed his timeslot to Colbert in 2015 was 60. All the data points in the same direction: 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' was a long time dying. That's true of late-night talk as a whole, too. 'I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next,' Trump predicted on Truth Social. The president doesn't have to pressure ABC to make that happen — the market will do that on its own, as it did with Colbert. Colbert had a hit when he played a parody conservative on Comedy Central. Once he stopped playing and presented his true face and politics to the country, he crashed. Donald Trump didn't get Stephen Colbert canceled — everything Democrats like about Colbert did. And the late-night host's fate will also be theirs if they don't heed this market lesson. Daniel McCarthy is the editor of Modern Age: A Conservative Review and editor-at-large of The American Conservative.
