CBS could be making a big mistake by canceling The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. 

On July 17, Colbert stunned his fans when he announced that the network had decided to cancel The Late Show. 

“I want to let you know something that I found out just last night. Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending The Late Show in May,” he told the studio audience, as the crowd erupted in boos. “Yeah, I share your feelings. It’s not just the end of our show, but it’s the end of The Late Show on CBS. We’re not being replaced.” 

Why did CBS cancel ‘The Late Show’?

CBS has said it’s canceling the late-night talk show for financial reasons. While Colbert typically leads its time-slot competitors in viewers, ratings for all late-night shows have been down in recent years. That translates into shrinking ad revenue, and the network says the show was simply losing money (via Reuters). 

But critics were quick to point out that the cancellation news came just days before the Trump administration approved an $8 billion merger between CBS’ parent company Paramount and Skydance. For some, it seemed that pulling the plug on Colbert – who has been sharply critical of Trump and his administration – was the cost of getting the green light on the merger.

Stephen Colbert’s viewership spikes after cancellation news 

Whatever the reason for canceling The Late Show, CBS may come to regret its choice to exit the late-night game, says an expert with media analytics company Samba TV.

“According to Samba TV data, Colbert consistently outpaced his late-night peers by 8% to 12%,” prior to the cancellation news, said Alyson Sprague, Samba’s vice president of measurement products

In the week of June 26, The Late Show an average of 755,000 U.S. households tuned in to watch Colbert’s interviews and commentary. In comparison, an average of 672,000 households watched Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC, while 680,000 households watching The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.  

Colbert’s viewership spiked after people learned his show would end next year. From July 21 through July 24, an average of 1 million households watched The Late Show. Meanwhile, numbers for Jimmy Kimmel and The Tonight Show dipped, with an average of 565,000 watching Kimmel and 650,000 watching Fallon. But those two shows could be the long-term winners, provided ABC and NBC don’t follow CBS’ lead in quitting late-night entirely. 

“In the wake of the cancellation news, [Colbert’s] viewership spiked by 81% as audiences tuned in for his response,” Sprague said. “By pulling the plug on The Late Show, CBS may be forfeiting its late-night crown, with Fallon and NBC now positioned to take the lead.”

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