Latest news with #late-night
Fast Company
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
Jon Stewart says CBS and Paramount get their value from programming like ‘The Late Show' with Stephen Colbert
Jon Stewart, who hosted The Daily Show on Comedy Central from 1999 to 2015 and has returned for once-a-week hosting stints since 2024, lashed out at his show's parent company for choosing to 'unceremoniously' end The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and discontinue the franchise. In a segment on Monday, Stewart noted his well-documented allegiance to Colbert, even showing a photo of the duo when they were both on The Daily Show from 1999 to 2005. While statements about the events surrounding the cancellation of The Late Show have been made by many celebrities on social media—and even by hosts of other late-night programs—Stewart added to the conversation by boldly calling out CBS for appearing to overlook the value that compelling late-night programs bring to the media giants that own them. 'I understand the fear that you and your advertisers have with $8 billion at stake, but understand this: Truly, the shows that you now seek to cancel, censor and control—a not insignificant portion of that $8 billion value came from those fucking shows—that's what made you that money,' Stewart said directly into the camera. The $8 billion that Stewart is referring to is the proposed merger between Paramount Global, which owns CBS, and Skydance, a production company founded and helmed by David Ellison, son of tech billionaire and Trump supporter Larry Ellison. The deal has faced regulatory hurdles, first under the Biden administration and then under the Trump administration. All of this also comes as CBS News announced in July that it will settle a lawsuit filed against 60 Minutes by Trump, who claims that the show unfairly edited an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris to make her look more favorable. 'The fact that CBS didn't try to save their No. 1-rated network late-night franchise that's been on the air for over three decades is part of what's making everyone wonder, was this purely financial or maybe the path of least-resistance for your $8 billion merger?' Stewart asked on his show. Fast Company reached out to CBS, Paramount Global, and Skydance Media. None immediately responded to a request for comment. CBS has referred to the decision to cancel The Late Show as a financial one and unrelated to the show's content, citing a 'challenging backdrop' for late-night television. Although The Late Show has reportedly been losing roughly $40 million a year, according to a source cited by the Wall Street Journal, Stewart's larger point is buoyed by the fact that Paramount earns more than half of its revenue from its television businesses. Indeed, Paramount has played up its TV assets, including The Late Show and much of its news content, in its pitch to investors about the proposed merger. Colbert's image appears multiple times on the 'New Paramount' PowerPoint presentation, with the company touting CBS as a leader in late-night TV. Ratings from Nielsen likewise show The Late Show as the top-rated show in its block, with about 2.417 million viewers across 41 new episodes. '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 would anyone watch you? And B—you are fucking wrong,' Stewart said.
Fast Company
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
Why Colbert's cancellation is lighting a fire under every late-night host
BY By axing The Late Show With Stephen Colbert last week, CBS not only put an expiration date on TV's No. 1 late-night talk show —the network also put an enormous target on its own back. In the days since CBS made the announcement that the show would be ending in May 2026, all current late-night talk show hosts have bound together in a show of support for Colbert. That support has taken the form of savage jokes about CBS, which canceled Colbert's show just days after he called the $16 million settlement between CBS parent company Paramount and President Donald Trump ' a big fat bribe.' Though Paramount stressed that the cancellation was ultimately a financial decision, the company's leadership is clearly unconcerned about how it looks to cancel a show led by one of the president's critics while its $8 billion merger with Skydance is pending before that same president's Federal Communications Commission chair. But Colbert and his fellow late-night hosts aren't afraid to say exactly what the show's pending cancellation looks like—punishment from a corporate parent for putting its business at risk. If the first show of his precancellation run is any indicator, Colbert is ready to go out the same way he rose to No. 1, by lobbing scathing jokes at Trump and those who help prop him up. And as his show's demise lays bare the precarious situation late night is in, Colbert's peers seem ready to enter their DGAF eras as well. Colbert's anti-Trump jokes made his show more political Trump's election in 2016, just one year into Colbert's tenure, was crucial to helping the host find his footing. He'd had a bit of a rocky transition from his satirical Comedy Central series, The Colbert Report, which he'd hosted in character as a Bill O'Reilly-like blowhard. It took him some time—and some unprecedented times—to figure out the best way to be himself on TV. Prior to Trump's election, the top late-night talk show was The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, mainly known for its host's affable banter with celebrities and goofy party games. Trump's election seemed to light a fire under late-night TV, though, offering most of the hosts a sense of purpose and more nightly material than they could possibly handle. As Fallon remained largely apolitical, Colbert pounced. By February 2017, he snatched the top spot of late night for the first time, and then maintained it throughout the following season. Colbert's peers Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel also grew into their new roles as thorns in the president's side, while Fallon floundered. Late night is floundering—especially at CBS But amid a downturn in ratings, even Colbert's viewership has softened as time has gone on. Between the political exhaustion that followed the 2020 election and a steady increase in cord-cutting in U.S. households, late-night TV ratings have fallen steadily for five years. Colbert now receives an average of 2.47 million viewers per show, down more than a million from his 2018-2019 peak. Late-night ad revenue fell by half from 2018 to 2024, from $439 million to just $220 million. Even Trump's return to the White House, with all its attendant chaos, couldn't entice viewers back to late night this year, with ratings down across the board even from last fall. CBS has had an especially tough time programming late night. After host James Corden left The Late Late Show in 2023, CBS opted to end the series rather than find a new host, taking a swing by airing the talk show-game show amalgam After Midnight in its time slot. That show ended in June after two seasons, when host Taylor Tomlinson bowed out to focus on stand-up. Amid the tumult, Colbert and his show's pole position among his peers seemed like an asset for the network. But given his critique of Paramount's Trump settlement—which heads off a legal battle over the president's appearance on 60 Minutes last fall, which he alleged was edited unfairly—Colbert's cancellation can easily be perceived as a potential additional condition for the merger. Trump has certainly not done anything to assuage that notion, gloating about it on Truth Social over the weekend. But Colbert and his late-night compatriots are signaling that they're ready to call it as they see it now that Colbert's days at CBS are numbered. How late-night hosts responded Kimmel was the first of the hosts to respond. In a since-lapsed Instagram story on Saturday, July 19, the host wrote: 'Love you, Stephen. Fu*k you and all your Sheldons, CBS' (a nod to the main character from the network's 12-season hit The Big Bang Theory and its 7-season spin-off Young Sheldon). Next came Jon Stewart's righteously irate, f-bomb-heavy monologue on Monday night's episode of The Daily Show. While the host admitted the fiscal realities of late-night TV in 2025, comparing it to 'operating a Blockbuster kiosk inside of a Tower Records,' he blasted the network for not doing more to save the top show in the format. Stewart concluded that despite those financial challenges, the cancellation was ultimately due to the 'fear and pre-compliance that is gripping all of America's institutions.' He then led a choir and the audience in a chant of 'Go fuck yourselves,' aimed at corporations, including Paramount, who have demonstrated fealty to Trump. Finally, just after The Daily Show came the first episode of The Late Show in what may come to be known as its DGAF era. ' The gloves are off,' the host said early on in the episode, and then spent the rest of the runtime giving a preview of what that will look like. Perhaps taking a cue from Stewart, Colbert responded to Trump's gloating over his cancellation by telling the president, 'Go fuck yourself.' One particular moment from the episode, though, was notable both for its humor and its sprawling show of solidarity. A parade of famous friends including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Weird Al Yankovic, and Adam Sandler showed up for an elaborate bit based on last week's Coldplay kiss-cam fiasco —and they were joined by Colbert's peers: Meyers, Stewart, and Last Week Tonight host John Oliver. All of these hosts standing united in purpose (Jimmy Fallon separately cracked jokes in support of Colbert on The Tonight Show) is a signal that late night is poised to get its biggest jolt since the early days of Trump's first term. These hosts may be about to crack jokes like there's no tomorrow, because for the first time in late night's storied history, there might not be. The super-early-rate deadline for Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies Awards is this Friday, July 25, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Joe Berkowitz is a contributing writer for Fast Company, where he explores all things digital culture, especially how we live, work, and do business in a rapidly changing information environment. His coverage runs the gamut from profiles of interesting businesses and creators, the streaming wars, social media, as well as the objects and technology that define our lives. More
Fox News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Anderson Cooper shows support for Colbert on 'The Late Show'
CNN's Anderson Cooper showed his support for Stephen Colbert appearing in an audience gag on Monday's installment of "The Late Show" after CBS announced the cancellation of the late-night program.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Stephen Colbert Gets a Visit From Jimmy Fallon, Jon Stewart and More Late-Night Hosts After Cancellation — Watch
TV's late-night hosts sure do stick together. On Monday's episode of CBS' The Late Show — the first since host Stephen Colbert revealed his show was being cancelled — Colbert got a quick visit from four of his fellow late night hosts: The Tonight Show's Jimmy Fallon, The Daily Show's Jon Stewart, Late Night's Seth Meyers and Last Week Tonight's John Oliver. More from TVLine Jon Stewart Rages Against Late Show With Stephen Colbert Cancellation, Declares: 'I'm Not Going Anywhere' President Trump Celebrates Stephen Colbert's Cancellation: 'I Hear Jimmy Kimmel Is Next' Why Sheriff Country Is Filming 2,100 Miles Away From Fire Country - Plus, Episode Count Confirmed In a parody of last week's viral Coldplay concert moment, Colbert brought out 'Weird Al' Yankovic and Lin-Manuel Miranda to sing Coldplay's 'Vida la Vida' while the camera panned around the audience. The camera stopped on a few fans before landing on CNN's Anderson Cooper and Bravo's Andy Cohen; Fallon and Meyers; Adam Sandler and his Happy Gilmore 2 co-star Christopher McDonald; and Stewart and Oliver. After the camera stopped on a cartoon of President Donald Trump cuddling the Paramount logo and then discarding it, though, Colbert had to halt the tune, informing Yankovic and Miranda: 'Your song has been cancelled.' During his monologue, Colbert offered a profane response to Trump's gleeful reaction to the cancellation, turning to a fancy Eloquence Cam and bluntly telling the commander-in-chief: 'Go f–k yourself.' He also threw cold water on Trump's prediction that Jimmy Kimmel would be next, declaring: 'I am the martyr, OK? There's only room for one on this cross, and I gotta tell you: The view is fantastic from up here!' The cancellation of The Late Show was 'purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night,' CBS said in a statement last week. 'It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.' Many in the industry, however, point to Colbert's strong criticism of Trump, along with CBS' parent company Paramount agreeing to pay Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit related to 60 Minutes, as Paramount awaits FCC approval of its merger with Skydance Media. Colbert announced the cancellation on Thursday's episode, telling the studio audience: 'Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending The Late Show in May.' The audience, of course, loudly booed this news, and Colbert wryly replied, 'Yeah, I share your feelings.' Many others shared their feelings as well: Kimmel, host of ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!, posted on Instagram, 'Love you Stephen. F–k you and all your Sheldons CBS.' Fallon also offered Colbert support: 'Stephen is one of the sharpest, funniest hosts to ever do it. I really thought I'd ride this out with him for years to come.' Meyers added that 'for as great a comedian and host he is, [Colbert] is an even better person,' and Oliver offered: 'I love Stephen, I love his staff. I love that show. It's incredibly sad… It's terrible, terrible news for the world of comedy.' Best of TVLine 'Missing' Shows, Found! Get the Latest on Ahsoka, Monarch, P-Valley, Sugar, Anansi Boys and 25+ Others Yellowjackets Mysteries: An Up-to-Date List of the Series' Biggest Questions (and Answers?) The Emmys' Most Memorable Moments: Laughter, Tears, Historical Wins, 'The Big One' and More Solve the daily Crossword
CTV News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Jon Stewart slams CBS for decision to cancel ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert'
Jon Stewart performs at Comic Relief: Stand-Up for LA at The Town Hall on March 3 in New York. (for Comic Relief via CNN Newsource) Jon Stewart pulled no punches Monday over CBS's cancellation of Stephen Colbert's late-night show. During Monday night's broadcast of 'The Daily Show,' Stewart's first since Colbert on Thursday shared that 'The Late Show' would not return beyond May 2026, the late-night veteran lambasted CBS for canceling the program. 'The fact that CBS didn't try to save their No. 1 rated late-night franchise that's been on the air for over three decades is part of what's making everybody wonder … was this purely financial or maybe the path of least resistance for your $8 billion merger,' Stewart said on his Comedy Central program. Paramount Global — the parent of both CBS and Comedy Central — has been angling for regulatory approval for a merger with Skydance Media. Some critics last week connected the cancellation of Colbert's show, in which he's frequently taken aim at President Donald Trump, with the merger. CBS, for its part, cited financial reasons for discontinuing the show, stating that it was losing money in a challenging environment for late-night programming. Stewart had harsh words for CBS and Paramount, using several expletives to punctuate his sentiments. 'If you believe as corporations or as networks (that) you can make yourselves so innocuous, that you can serve gruel so flavorless that you will never again' risk Trump's ire, 'you are f**king wrong.' Stewart is the latest late-night host to denounce the network's cancellation of the 33-year-old show, just months ahead of his contract's December 2025 expiration. Just last week, Stewart said his team hasn't 'heard anything' from executives about whether his show will be renewed. Soon after Colbert broke the news of his show's conclusion, fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel slammed the move on Instagram. 'Love you Stephen,' Kimmel wrote on his Instagram story. 'F**k you (…) CBS.' Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers also offered Colbert support. Taking to their respective Instagram Stories, Fallon wrote, 'I'm just as shocked as everyone,' while Meyers wrote, 'I'm going to miss having him on TV every night.' John Oliver, often viewed as the firebrand of late-night, told reporters on Saturday that the program's cancellation was 'terrible, terrible news for the world of comedy.' Colbert, who has helmed 'The Late Show' since 2015, first announced his cancellation of during the show's taping last Thursday. CBS has chalked the show's demise to financial pressures. Late-night talk shows across the board are facing the harsh reality that declines in ad revenue can't make up for burgeoning production costs. But Stewart on Monday waved off the idea that late-night comedy is a financial black hole. 'Look, I understand the corporate fear, I understand the fear that you and your advertisers have with $8 billion at stake,' he said on Monday. 'But understand this: The shows that you now seek to cancel, censor and control, a not-insignificant portion of that $8 billion value came from those … shows. That's what made that money.' Critics have also noted that the program's cancellation comes after Paramount Global's settlement with President Trump. The CBS parent in early July agreed to pay the president $16 million to settle a lawsuit over a '60 Minutes' interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris — despite many legal experts considering it to be a legally dubious case. The settlement raised concerns that the company was trying to gain the favor of the Federal Communications Commission, whose approval Paramount needs to merge with Skydance Media. Trump has also boasted of an additional $16-plus-million 'side deal' with Skydance's David Ellison, which will see CBS broadcast PSAs for causes important to Trump following the Paramount-Skydance merger. Colbert has been critical of the settlement. It's unsurprising that Stewart would offer such a fiery rebuke of CBS's move. The late-night comedian called Paramount's settlement 'shameful' in early July. Colbert and Stewart have also been colleagues for three decades; Colbert started his late-night career as a correspondent for the Stewart-helmed 'Daily Show' in 1995 only to leave in 2005 to start 'The Colbert Report' at CBS. Colbert helmed the titular show until 2014, after which he headed to 'The Late Show.'
