CBS’s decision to end its long-running ‘Late Show’ franchise touched off a firestorm—and is a grim sign for a challenged television format
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” was profitable as recently as a few years ago.
Now, it loses about $40 million a year, according to a person familiar with its budget. On Thursday, CBS pulled the plug on the show and an entire franchise launched in 1993, making it the biggest casualty yet among late-night talk shows contending with cord-cutting, changing tastes among younger viewers and declining ad revenue.
The budget for the show, filmed in New York City’s Ed Sullivan Theater, includes a live band, a staff the host said numbered 200 people, and an annual salary of $20 million for Colbert, according to a person familiar with the show’s operations.
The Colbert show, like all late-night programming these days, was hemorrhaging money. But please, don't let that interfere with your conspiracy theory. https://t.co/R18rd2FV67
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 19, 2025
