CBS Claims ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ Is Losing $40 Million a Year | Cracked.com

And the rest of late night supposedly isn’t doing much better

cracked.com

TL;DR

CBS just pulled the plug on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, blaming a $40 million-a-year money pit—even though Colbert still tops the ratings. Falling ad revenue (it’s half of what late-night shows were raking in back in 2018) plus weak social metrics (Colbert’s YouTube subs trail Fallon’s by over 20 million) made it an easy budget cut.

The move could open the floodgates: CBS already swapped James Corden’s pricey show for cheap panel fare, TBS quietly let Conan and Samantha Bee go, and now ABC/NBC might think twice about propping up Fallon, Kimmel or Meyers as ad dollars keep tanking. Even Kimmel admits “I’m not going to do this forever”—so don’t be surprised if more late-night shake-ups are coming.