As Stephen Colbert exits, the future of late-night TV talk shows dims

At Jimmy Kimmel’s yearly monologue to advertisers astatine Disney’s caller upfront presentation, the ABC late-night big offered sympathy to his ousted CBS cohort Stephen Colbert.

“First, it’s atrocious capable to suffer your job,” Kimmel said. “Imagine getting replaced by the proprietor of the Weather Channel.”

Byron Allen, the media mogul whose holdings bash see the Weather Channel, laughed erstwhile the gag was repeated to him during a caller telephone conversation. “I similar Jimmy Kimmel a lot,” helium said.

Allen, ne'er lacking successful self-confidence, tin spend to rotation with the jokes. Episodes of his 20-year-old syndicated programme “Comics Unleashed,” a half-hour amusement featuring mostly lesser-known stand-ups sharing routines and stories, are replacing “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” connected CBS successful the 11:35 p.m. clip play starting Friday.

While it’s a triumph for Allen, 65, it’s besides a motion of however the accepted late-night speech amusement — 1 of television’s astir culturally influential formats — whitethorn nary longer beryllium sustainable successful the epoch of streaming TV.

CBS said past twelvemonth it canceled Colbert due to the fact that it mislaid $40 cardinal a twelvemonth arsenic the late-night viewing wont among audiences has eroded successful the streaming era. Many successful the TV manufacture are skeptical of the claim, believing Skydance Media wanted to soundlessness the relentless Trump-bashing big successful bid to wide the authorities regulatory way for its acquisition of web genitor Paramount. (The FCC’s support of the woody came days aft the cancellation was announced.)

Cedric the Entertainer, left, with Byron Allen connected the acceptable of “Comics Unleashed.”

(Allen Media Group)

But nary 1 who has worked successful late-night tv successful caller years tin quality however fiscal challenges are clouding the format’s future. Polished after-hours programs with a unrecorded audience, ample teams of writers and producers and high-priced hosts are warring disconnected obsolescence arsenic accepted TV audiences get smaller and advertisement revenues shrink. While CBS is the archetypal to act, different networks person thought astir getting retired of the concern altogether.

Since 2022, “The Late Show” mislaid 20% of its assemblage successful the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49 property group, according to Nielsen data. Ad spending connected each late-night tv shows deed $209 cardinal successful 2025, down from $519.7 cardinal successful 2017, according to information from Guideline.

“Nothing is forever, particularly successful television,” said erstwhile web enforcement Ted Harbert, who oversaw the launches of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers” astatine NBC. “Digital tech is sidesplitting precocious night.”

The hosts of the programs and their funniest bits are arguably seen by much radical than ever earlier acknowledgment to clips replayed connected societal media platforms. But the gross generated by integer viewing doesn’t attack what the networks get for audiences watching unrecorded connected TV.

Over the past 10 years, late-night shows flocked to YouTube arsenic a mode to beryllium a portion of the nationalist speech and bring attraction to the shows. Harbert believes the conception that the clips unsocial — which whitethorn diagnostic a comic spot oregon a snapshot of a speech with a impermanent — would assistance lure viewers to accepted TV was folly.

“The shows cannibalized themselves by making their amusement disposable successful snack-size clips aft the web airing,” helium said. “And viewers evidently would alternatively ticker a mates of five-minute clips than a full show.”

Late-night shows were erstwhile among the astir profitable programs connected TV due to the fact that of their quality to scope viewers successful the 18-to-34 property radical that pull premium prices for commercialized time. But the aforesaid demographic was the archetypal to gravitate to streaming platforms and wantonness accepted TV which thrives connected assignment viewing.

Daniel Kellison, a erstwhile shaper for “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “The Late Show with David Letterman,” noted that Kimmel — who has besides been targeted by the Trump medication for his harsh barbs — has seen his TV ratings summation this year.

But the wide inclination for the clip play is inactive down. While Kellison believes Colbert’s cancellation is an effort by CBS to appease Trump, helium agrees that the genre needs to germinate and accommodate to the changing media landscape.

“There’s ever going to beryllium an assemblage for speech astir authorities and beingness and these benignant of shows volition beryllium successful antithetic formats and I deliberation it’s incumbent upon radical to fig retired however to contiguous them,” helium said.

CBS executives person said they privation to make a caller web amusement successful the late-night clip period. But for the adjacent twelvemonth it volition lease the slot to Allen. His institution Allen Media Group pays CBS for the time, covers the outgo of accumulation and sells the advertising. He is besides the host. The woody volition erase immoderate losses the web experienced successful that TV block.

“Comics Unleashed” has been moving successful the 12:35 a.m. hr since CBS canceled “After Midnight” past year. When that amusement moves to the earlier clip slot, it volition beryllium replaced by different Allen program, “Funny You Should Ask,” a comic quiz amusement hosted by John Kelley.

Allen said helium has large respect for the late-night TV tradition. His parent was a circuit usher astatine NBC successful Burbank and helium was capable to bent retired connected the workplace batch to ticker Johnny Carson portion “Tonight.” Allen would get proposal from Carson, whom helium calls his leader and mentor, and yet got a changeable astatine doing stand-up connected “Tonight” erstwhile helium was 18 years old.

Allen adjacent asked CBS to determination the commencement day of “Comics Unleashed” to May 22 due to the fact that it is the day of Carson’s last amusement successful 1992. But his sentimentality ends erstwhile it comes to the economics of programming successful that clip slot.

“We volition beryllium successful profit,” Allen said of “Comics Unleashed,” which according to Nielsen has seen its assemblage turn successful the 12:35 a.m. clip slot by 26% since October.

Kimmel has accused CBS of dumping Colbert for “Comics Unleashed” due to the fact that Allen’s amusement doesn’t partake successful governmental wit that could alienate the White House arsenic Skydance moves to adjacent its adjacent acquisition: Warner Bros. Discovery.

“I consciousness similar CBS is turning 11:35 p.m. into a ‘least’ clip slot,” Kimmel said astatine the Disney presentation. “Least arsenic successful slightest apt to offend the president with the rerun of ‘Comics Unleashed’ from 2007 featuring Paula Poundstone and Andy Dick.”

Poundstone and Dick are not among the 1,000 comedians who person appeared connected “Comics Unleashed” implicit the years, galore of whom went connected to go stars. But not having the programme dabble successful governmental wit is simply a concern decision.

The guests instrumentality to storytelling and slice-of-life worldly that doesn’t date, which is wherefore the episodes tin pull an assemblage years aft being taped. They don’t plug books, movies, concerts oregon immoderate different elements that would beryllium dated by aboriginal airings.

“Twenty years agone erstwhile we changeable our archetypal occurrence I said ‘we’re making it ‘I Love Lucy,’” Allen said. “I privation these shows to beryllium comic contiguous and 20 years from today.”

Allen said his institution volition nutrient 130 caller episodes of “Comics Unleashed” for the 2026-27 TV season.

But the crushed the existent acceptable of late-night hosts leaned into authorities truthful heavy successful caller years is due to the fact that it works.

When Colbert took implicit “The Late Show” from Letterman successful 2015, the program’s ratings sputtered arsenic the assemblage did not truly cognize Colbert extracurricular of the satirical fig helium played connected Comedy Central with his amusement “The Colbert Report.”

The nighttime Trump scored his astonishing triumph successful the 2016 statesmanlike contention against Hillary Clinton, Kelly Kahl, past an enforcement vice president of CBS Entertainment, sent a substance to Chris Licht, past enforcement shaper of “The Late Show,” telling him it was “the champion happening to hap to the show.”

Colbert recovered his dependable connected the program, which roseate to No. 1 successful the ratings and has been determination ever since.