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Yahoo
22-07-2025
- 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 Guardian
19-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Writers' union urges investigation into Paramount move to cancel Colbert show
The Writers Guild of America has called on New York state officials to launch an investigation into Paramount following its sudden decision to cancel The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. In a strongly worded statement issued on Friday, the Writers Guild of America East and the Writers Guild of America West asked the New York state attorney general, Letitia James, to investigate Paramount over 'potential wrongdoing' after the company announced the cancellation of the Late Show on Thursday. The unions pointed to Paramount's decision earlier this month to settle what it condemned as a 'baseless lawsuit' brought against 60 Minutes and CBS News by Donald Trump for $16m. Trump had claimed that CBS News misleadingly edited an interview with Kamala Harris last fall during the presidential campaign. Citing the California state senate's decision in May to launch an inquiry into Paramount's $16m settlement with Trump as precedent, the unions said: 'Given Paramount's recent capitulation to President Trump in the CBS News lawsuit, the Writers Guild of America has significant concerns that The Late Show's cancelation is a bribe, sacrificing free speech to curry favor with the Trump administration as the company looks for merger approval.' It continued: 'Cancelations are part of the business, but a corporation terminating a show in bad faith due to explicit or implicit political pressure is dangerous and unacceptable in a democratic society. Paramount's decision comes against a backdrop of relentless attacks on a free press by President Trump, through lawsuits against CBS and ABC, threatened litigation of media organizations with critical coverage, and the unconscionable defunding of PBS and NPR.' The unions called on James to launch an investigation into Paramount, saying that she is 'no stranger to prosecuting Trump for illegal business practices'. 'We call on our elected leaders to hold those responsible to account, to demand answers about why this beloved program was canceled and to assure the public that Colbert and his writers were not censored due to their views or the whims of the president,' the WGA added. A spokesperson for James's office said the NYAG office is monitoring the situation. The cancellation comes after Colbert – who has long been a critic of Trump on his show – called Paramount's settlement a 'big fat bribe' on air on Monday. 'As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I am offended … I don't know if anything – anything – will repair my trust in this company. But, just taking a stab at it, I'd say $16m would help,' he said. Echoing Colbert's disapproval, Jon Stewart, who works for Comedy Central – which is also owned by Paramount – condemned the deal on air last week, calling it 'shameful'. He added: 'I would assume internally, this is devastating to the people who work in a place that pride themselves on contextual, good journalism?' Following Paramount's announcement, numerous lawmakers have weighed in on the cancellation, casting skepticism at the company. The Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren wrote on X: '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.' Similarly, the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders said: 'CBS's billionaire owners pay Trump $16 million to settle a bogus lawsuit while trying to sell the network to Skydance. Stephen Colbert, an extraordinary talent and the most popular late night host, slams the deal. Days later, he's fired. Do I think this is a coincidence? NO.' In a statement on Thursday evening, CBS executives said that the decision to cancel the show was 'purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night', adding that it was 'not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount'. The Guardian has contacted the WGAE for comment.
