CBS defends Colbert cancellation by revealing revenue loss

CBS unexpectedly defended its decision to pull "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" off air, revealing in a statement Thursday that the show was losing approximately $40 million a year.

The network announced it was pulling the plug on the iconic program last year because of "financial reasons," and said the decision to end the show after 10 seasons was not a reflection on the years-long host. 

Colbert has also confirmed that he was not replaced as host and that the program was merely being replaced with two back-to-back episodes of Byron Allen’s “Comics Unleashed” instead.

Allen's program is a "time buy," meaning that Allen is paying CBS $15 million to rent the air time, but will keep all ad revenue for himself.

“We’re proud to partner with Byron Allen on a new business and programming model for late night that proactively addresses a network daypart that was cost prohibitive to continue,” CBS said in a statement to Deadline. “With this ‘time buy’ model, we have shifted an hour that was losing roughly $40 million annually to $15 million in profit — a $55 million swing.”

Allen's program debuted on May 22, the day after Colbert's show aired its final episode. It will be followed by Allen's program “Funny You Should Ask,” which will air at 12:37 a.m.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.