https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/08/the_end_of_stephen_colbert_s_hate_disguised_as_comedy.html
The legacy of figures like Stephen Colbert is the sowing of division and hatred across the nation.
The CBS network recently announced that “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” would be concluding in May 2026.
CBS claimed that the move was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late-night [television]”; Colbert’s show lost more than $40 million of CBS’s annual investment of over $100 million.
CBS also claimed that the move didn’t reflect “the show’s performance, content, or other matters.” This is a falsehood. The root cause behind financial losses is the lack of viewership, which leads to advertisers’ reluctance.
So what drove CBS to cancel Colbert’s show?
A major factor is that contemporary viewers consume content online at their convenience, rather than watching it on television at a scheduled time.
Another reason is that the very format of the late-night show, with the staged monologue, rehearsed bits, and contrived anecdotes from stars, has become stale.
Since the shows reflect current political events and stars promoting their latest products, they have short shelf life; thus little revenue is generated from retaining these shows for streaming sites. People may want to rewatch classic TV fictional series such as “Seinfeld,” but rewatching a week-old Colbert makes no sense. Sections of these late-night shows may become “viral,” but these clips are freely available on YouTube, hence little revenue is generated.
Once upon a time, the late-night shows were the primary place for stars to promote their products, where viewers learned about an upcoming movie, TV show, or music album. Today, promotions occur on podcasts and other web-based forums.
Now for the content.
Once upon a time, late-night giants such as Jay Leno and Johnny Carson strove to ensure that their political leanings weren’t reflected on their shows. Leno’s monologue was evenly poised, targeting both Democrats and Republicans. Leno’s jibes were jokes, not vicious personal attacks. Letterman was a liberal and occasionally displayed his bias. This explains why Leno dominated the ratings.
The late-night scene radically changed when Jon Stewart began hosting “The Daily Show” in 1998. Stewart’s goal wasn’t entertainment but rather to push the Democrat agenda. “The Daily Show” was no different from Democrat mouthpieces such as the NYT or MSNBC, except that Stewart’s masquerade was comedy.
