Ratings for all network late night shows have been falling for some time now. Colbert probably would do better as a podcast, as Lamplighter suggested. So the timing of the cancellation IS suspect, but it may have happened eventually anyway.
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fortune.com
October 25, 2024 at 7:31 AM EDT
But the format is stagnating: the most popular among them, Colbert's "Late Show" on CBS, has seen its audience slashed by 32 percent over the last five years.
And ad revenue is vanishing. In the first eight months of 2024, it fell 10 percent, according to media analytics firm Guideline, after an even bigger drop last year..."Profits the shows provide have shrunk toward non-existent."
Those were once both hallmarks of late night, but now, "even the guest segments are very carefully prepared" on network shows, according to Semel.
A podcast without time constraints that can evolve in real time "brings more enjoyment for the guests and for the hosts, and probably by translation, for the listeners and viewers as well," Semel said.
"We all like it when we see people who are talking genuinely having fun, not manufactured fun."
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www.msn.com
The Writers Guild of America also raised questions, saying the cancellation appeared to be a case of "sacrificing free speech to curry favor with the Trump Administration."
One factor contradicting the theory is that Colbert, who has another year on his contract, will remain on the air through May. His commentaries have never been restrained by network executives over his 10-year run and that situation is not expected to change in his final season.
The poor optics may be a matter of contractual timing.
Paramount Global had to complete the deals with writer-producer teams in July for the upcoming "Late Show" season, according to a person familiar with the discussions who was not authorized to comment.
Those deals typically run for a full year, but with the company's intention to cancel the program " decided several months ago " the contracts being offered only ran through May, which tipped off the network's plans.
"Late Show" is said to be losing somewhere in the tens of millions of dollars a year as younger viewers have fled. Since 2022, the program has lost 20% of its audience in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49 age group, according to Nielsen data.
