We found Biden's economist. When they spend more to produce a show than they make from the show it's a loser. For example, let's say it costs 100 million to produce the show and they only make 60 million from ad revenue, it's a loss of 40 million.
Late Show has been losing more than $40 million a year, a significant amount of dough even for a show that leads the traditional late-night talk shows in the ratings. Colbert's 2.47 million viewers are more than either of the Jimmys can manage, but the number isn't big enough to keep ad dollars from plummeting.
It wouldn't be the first time that a highly rated show was canceled due to budget reasons.