LARRY ELDER: Dems Rail Against Colbert’s Cancellation — Here’s Why

CBS canceled Stephen Colbert’s late-night show.

Democrat Minnesota Gov. and failed vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz, who recently appeared on the show, said:

“Stephen Colbert is the best in the business. He always told truth to power and pulled no punches. We need more of that, not less.” You might be forgiven for thinking Colbert’s job is to tell jokes.

Some Democrats in full meltdown mode call the left-wing show’s cancellation a casualty of CBS’s attempt to curry favor with the Trump administration. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said, “If Paramount and CBS ended ‘The Late Show’ for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.” The show’s writers demand that New York Attorney General Letitia James launch an investigation.

For those who long ago stopped engaging in the nightly pleasure of watching late night comedy when Johnny Carson retired and who stopped watching altogether post-Jay Leno-David Letterman, here’s what just happened. CBS’s parent company, Paramount, is seeking Federal Communications Commission approval for a merger. CBS called the cancellation “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night … not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”

Colbert reportedly lost $40 million last year, despite posting the highest late-night ratings of any show not hosted by Fox’s Greg Gutfeld. Forty million dollars in annual losses is a lot of money, whether Colbert or the WNBA. But in the WNBA’s defense, its loss took an entire league. Colbert dropped $40 million all by himself.

Since the Carson-Leno-Letterman era, late-night comedy viewership no longer prints money. At one time, Carson’s show generated an estimated $50 million to $100 million in annual profits. It consistently rated number one in late night, capturing as much as 70% of that audience. One night in 1969, when performer Tiny Tim got married on the show, nearly 50 million people watched. During Carson’s last week in 1992, he averaged 19 million viewers, with his final show watched by 55 million. By contrast, Colbert, in May 2025, averaged 1.9 million viewers per night, with ad revenue since 2018 down 40%.