Prime Highlights

• CBS reports it will end The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in May 2026.
• The cancellation is based on economics, and not show performance or ratings.

Key Facts

• The final season of Colbert will run through May 2026 after a ten-year stretch of consistent strong shows.
• The show’s cancellation even though it led late-night ratings for nine years straight.

Key Background

CBS announced the end of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2026, marking a significant shift in the late-night television landscape. The network described the move as a financial decision, stating it was not related to Colbert’s content or performance. Colbert, who has hosted the show since 2015, broke the news to his studio audience during a recent taping, expressing both surprise and resolve, saying, “I’m not being replaced. It’s just all going away.”

Colbert’s stint was a success across the board. His program dominated late-night ratings, with 2.4 million viewers on average and several Emmys and two Peabody Awards. The format of the show evolved over time, particularly during the Trump presidency, by merging cultural and political commentary. But the larger television universe grapples with sinking ad revenue, increasing production costs, and migration of consumption to digital and online media.

Industry observers cite that political pressure and indignation can also accelerate the cancellation. Colbert made a recent sarcastic comment about Paramount’s $16 million payment to settle a scandal in an interview with Donald Trump on 60 Minutes. This was made after the company made its planned buyout of Skydance Media for $8.4 billion, which was met by the wrath of “media watchdogs” and politicians alike. But CBS is still sticking to its guns on this being an economics-driven call. This follows on the heels of CBS’s previous cancellation of After Midnight, and it’s a strategic withdrawal from late-night programming in general.

Most of the big networks are thinking through the old approach in favor of cheaper, on-demand options. As The Late Show prepares to conclude its last season, CBS has guaranteed a proper farewell for Colbert and the 200-member staff. The move caps an era for Colbert and marks a milestone for legacy broadcasters on how they engage in entertainment in the streaming era.