The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to End in 2026—And Late Night May Never Recover

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during Thursday’s July 17, 2025 show.

Next year will mark the end of an era: CBS has decided to end The Late Show with Stephen Colbert when the season wraps in 2026.

Let that sink in: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the top-rated, still-relevant, nightly anchor of cultural and political sanity, is going off the air in less than a year. And CBS’s explanation? Pure MBA-speak. It’s “a financial decision.” Which is corporate shorthand for: “We’re out of ideas, and someone in a suit thinks reruns or cheap filler will fix our balance sheet.”

Stephen Colbert broke the mold when he took over from David Letterman in 2015. He turned a shaky start into dominance, evolving from Comedy Central satirist into the grown-up in the room—one with sharp elbows and a sharper monologue. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert didn’t just adapt to the Trump era—it thrived in it, becoming the most culturally necessary broadcast hour of the night.

And CBS, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to kill it.

The announcement dropped just as Paramount Global prepares to merge with Skydance Media. But don’t worry, the network swears this has nothing to do with the merger, politics, or content. Just business. Totally unrelated timing. Like canceling fire insurance the day before your house mysteriously burns down.

Here’s the official statement from George Cheeks, co-CEO Paramount Global and president and chief executive officer, CBS
Amy Reisenbach, president, CBS Entertainment, and David Stapf, president, CBS Studios:

“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will end its historic run in May 2026 at the end of the broadcast season. We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire The Late Show franchise at that time. We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television.

“This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.

“Our admiration, affection and respect for the talents of Stephen Colbert and his incredible team made this agonizing decision even more difficult. Stephen has taken CBS late night by storm with cutting-edge comedy, a must-watch monologue and interviews with leaders in entertainment, politics, news and newsmakers across all areas. The show has been #1 in late night for nine straight seasons; Stephen’s comedy resonates daily across digital and social media; and the broadcast is a staple of the nation’s zeitgeist.

“The accomplishments of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert are memorable and significant in performance, quality and stature. With much gratitude, we look forward to honoring Stephen and celebrating the show over the next 10 months alongside its millions of fans and viewers.”

Translation: “This show is fantastic and wildly successful, which is why we’re pulling the plug. Thanks for all the Emmys. Please don’t yell at us.”

Let’s be blunt: this is a disaster disguised as a strategy.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert artwork. ©2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Yes, the entertainment landscape is a hot mess. Streaming has shattered audiences into tiny, algorithm-fed pieces. YouTube clips matter more than Nielsen ratings. But that doesn’t mean you kill your most powerful brand in the space. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert remains one of the last places where A-list celebrities, studio heads, and political candidates alike still want to be. Colbert’s desk is a promotional throne. Removing it just because the network’s accountants got jumpy is the definition of short-term thinking.

And don’t even get me started on YouTube economics. Viral clips are nice, but they don’t pay the bills like primetime ad slots do. And good luck launching a movie in this climate without late-night support. Studios are still pretending Twitter is a functioning PR platform. It’s 2025. We know better.

So what’s CBS’s brilliant plan to replace The Late Show with Stephen Colbert? Give the hour back to local affiliates? Slap together a cheaper in-house show that nobody watches? Maybe a low-budget reality experiment called America’s Next Content Strategy? Honestly, if they air a glorified TikTok stream with a laugh track, we’ll only have ourselves to blame.

And while the network insists the decision isn’t political, the context matters. Skydance CEO David Ellison is widely believed to hold conservative political views. Colbert has been one of the few broadcast hosts consistently challenging the rise of fascist nonsense. The optics aren’t subtle. Whether or not politics played a role, canceling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert weakens one of the last platforms where satire still has teeth.

This isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about utility. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is still doing the job. It still matters. Colbert is still at the top of his game. Killing it off because CBS would rather save a few bucks than defend its own cultural capital is embarrassing.

Ultimately, this is what happens when networks stop thinking like stewards of culture and start acting like spreadsheets with logos. It’s a decision made by people who confuse brand equity with line items—and it will backfire.

Colbert deserves better. Viewers deserve better. Frankly, CBS deserves whatever sad, low-rated disaster it tries to roll out in The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s place.