George Cheeks, chair of TV media at Paramount, has spoken publicly for the first time about the decision to end The Late Show with Stephen Colbert after 32 years. Addressing a press conference following the official merger of Paramount with Skydance, Cheeks attributed the cancellation to financial pressures in the late-night advertising market.
“The challenge in late night is that the advertising marketplace is in significant secular decline,” Cheeks said. “We are huge fans of Colbert, we love the show. Unfortunately the economics made it a challenge for us to keep going.” Reports indicate the show was losing upwards of $40m a year, though Cheeks declined to confirm the exact figure, describing the losses as “significant” and in the “tens of millions”.
The cancellation came shortly after Colbert publicly criticised his parent company for paying $16m to settle a “frivolous” lawsuit brought by Donald Trump over a 60 Minutes interview. Colbert called the payment “a big fat bribe” to secure Trump administration approval for the $8.4bn merger. Many speculated the decision to axe the show was an attempt to appease the president and Skydance head Larry Ellison, but Cheeks insisted it was purely financial.
Cheeks noted that late-night ad revenue has plummeted 50% in seven years, and the network could not sustain the daypart once Taylor Tomlinson declined to return for another season of After Midnight. “It was incumbent upon me to make it clear to Stephen and his reps that this was where we were,” he said, adding that the timing was driven by contract renewals for writers and producers.
Colbert will continue to host four nights a week until April 2026. Cheeks said it was “too early to speculate” on a replacement programme in the 11.35pm ET slot, as the company focuses investment on primetime and sports.
