Latest news with #StevenColbert
Chicago Tribune
21-07-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Editorial: Stephen Colbert roasted bosses and took risks. Bravo.
Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, did its best to preempt the angst over its canceling of 'The Late Show With Steven Colbert,' saying from the start that this was 'purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.' It's incontrovertible that the late-night network audience is declining and aging as younger viewers increasingly get their comedy content from TikTok,YouTube and the like. These days, most people watch Colbert and his wee-hour colleagues in sliced bites posted later on social media. Reuters reported that advertising revenue for Colbert's show has dropped 40% since 2018 (down from $121.1 million in 2018 to just $70.2 million last year) as his audience has declined. More significantly, the news service also cited an internal source saying the costly show has been losing $40 million a year, hardly ideal for a company in business to make a profit. And it's not like CBS sudden pulled the plug to de-platform a pesky host: Colbert's show has 10 more months to run and he'll go out a hero to the left. Still, many progressives, including some political leaders, saw a nefarious motive and a brazen attempt to silence an outspoken liberal voice. Today's late-night hosts don't gently rib their bosses in the Johnny Carson or David Letterman modes; they castigate them. Just a few days ago, Colbert criticized the $16 million financial settlement between President Donald Trump and Paramount over a CBS '60 Minutes' story, saying, 'I don't know if anything — anything — will repair my trust in this company. But, just taking a stab at it, I'd say $16 million would help.' For the record, we thought Trump's lawsuit over routine editing practices was bogus and thus the settlement regrettable and even chilling. But anyone who works for a corporation knows that dissing your bosses on that level always carries risks. At some point, somebody in power is likely to say, 'We get all this criticism from the outside and we can't control that, but this guy works for us?' Nonetheless, we're admiring of Colbert for taking those risks and we like to hope that CBS, which has more than its share of good people who support free speech, would have continued to tolerate them if the show was making money. Late-night shows are left-leaning because that has matched who is watching at that hour; CBS' problem is not so much disliking that audience as seeing it disappear. By giving the show that 10-month off ramp, the network has a chance to recoup its losses, and the host and his staff have the chance for lots of unfettered comedic and political creativity. It can be freeing to know you are on your way out. Colbert, of course, is a generational talent. We remember him starting out at the Second City in Chicago and, more specifically, at that theater's old suburban outpost astride Interstate 90 and known as Second City Northwest. In the years that followed, Colbert, a graduate of Northwestern University, gave back to Chicago many times, supporting the Lookingglass Theatre in its hours of need and several of his friends here in their's. He's a good guy and he'll have plenty more opportunities ahead of him. We won't be surprised to see him outlast his bosses and his nemesis in the White House.
Fox News
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
ROB SCHNEIDER: Colbert gets crash course in what freedom of speech really means
Respectfully, Steven Colbert has been doing nothing but wafer-thinly disguised Democratic propaganda talking points for the last eight years plus. While I completely support Mr. Colbert's freedom of speech, his utter disdain for half of America and every swing state, greatly diminished his audience potential. I also respect Colbert's direct criticism of his employer, CBS/Paramount and his opinion that they caved to President Trump when they settled their lawsuit against the sitting president. That took guts, I will give him that. But Colbert, like ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel, excluded conservatives completely from his show and limited (prevented) his audience from hearing opposing viewpoints. Colbert fed liberal slop to his liberal-minded Kamala supporters and cared less about challenging them intellectually by actually appealing to their higher nature or engaging in thought-provoking debate. Nah, just keep sh---ing on half the country that is no longer afraid to say women don't have penises and boys shouldn't get to beat up girls in girls' sports. So while I support Mr. Colbert's First Amendment right to free speech, that constitutionally only applies to the government not being able to silence you or seek reprisals. As for CBS/Paramount, they are a private company and they pay the bills… Or used to. So they can fire anyone they want! And Colbert, who earned an estimated $20 million salary, was reportedly losing the company $40 million per year. That's the potential price tag for using your "Free Speech." It is not free from consequence. I, too, have experienced repercussions, both financial and career-wise, for my willingness to express my thoughts and opinions in the public square. For my outspoken support of parents who's children suffered neurological disorders from a mandated drug their pediatrician assured them was completely safe but turned out not to be, I lost work. In 2023, I was fired from a movie because of my opinions on the COVID vaccine and my public statements against people being forced to take it. I'm proud of that. And I was disgusted that Colbert had dancing syringes on his talk show, cajoling his audience into taking the experimental gene therapy while he and Kimmel and even President Biden shamed and belittled the unvaccinated. Kimmel even suggested that those who refused to take the 'vaccine' should be denied treatment in the hospital. While CBS claims the firing of Colbert is purely financial, his show being the most expensive in late night and being consistently walloped in ratings by the superior Gutfeld!, the timing is suspicious. Yes, these pricey late-night relics are on their way out. More people will read this tweet than the number of 18-35-year-old demographic that is the be-all-end-all for TV advertisers, so the writing was on the wall. But pissing off his bosses at the network made their financial decision even easier and apparently speedier. All of us who make our living being paid by the conglomerate behemoths who own and run show business must decide what, how much and when to use and exercise our freedom of speech. I, for one, value my freedom of speech more than making money at the expense of watching my culture and country get sucked into the Woke totalitarian demonizing, shaming and censoring machine that Colbert and Kimmel had no problem going along with and profiting from. Now the time has come when companies like CBS/Paramount, who used to be immediately cowed by the Woke mob of illiberal lunatics, are not so scared anymore. And they shouldn't be. The freak show Woke empire of intolerance and envy in the guise of good manners has fallen from its purity-enforced grace and America's flirtation with repackaged communism is dead. Finally, it may be okay to say on any remaining late-night talk shows that women do not have penises, men don't get pregnant, and children should not be mutilated. I wish Mr. Colbert much success in whatever he does next. Show business is a tough business.
