Late Show with Stephen Colbert canceled...Possible Political Reasons

mace1229

I just googled “cost of late show” and this is the summary it provided:

“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," like other late-night talk shows, costs over $100 million annually to produce, according to The New York Times. Recent reports indicate that while the show was once profitable, it has been losing money in recent years, with one source stating it was losing $40 million to $50 million a year. Despite its high production cost and declining viewership among younger audiences, the show has maintained a leading position in its time slot. 

Here's a breakdown:

• High Production Costs:

  Shows like "The Late Show" require significant investment in talent, staff, set design, and production equipment. 

Declining Revenue:

While the show was once a strong revenue generator for CBS, recent reports suggest that ad revenue has plummeted. 

Financial Losses:

CBS executives reportedly considered ways to cut costs but ultimately decided the show could not be viable, according to The New York Times. 

Competition and Changing Viewing Habits:

Younger viewers are increasingly moving away from traditional television, impacting the viewership and revenue of late-night shows.”


A show is losing $50 million a year and people things it’s because Trump doesn’t like it? And then a former host of The. Jew says the same thing and people take that as confirmation? The reality is shows that lose millions of dollars get canceled. 

Lerxst1992

mace1229 said:

I just googled “cost of late show” and this is the summary it provided:

“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," like other late-night talk shows, costs over $100 million annually to produce, according to The New York Times. Recent reports indicate that while the show was once profitable, it has been losing money in recent years, with one source stating it was losing $40 million to $50 million a year. Despite its high production cost and declining viewership among younger audiences, the show has maintained a leading position in its time slot. 

Here's a breakdown:

• High Production Costs:

  Shows like "The Late Show" require significant investment in talent, staff, set design, and production equipment. 
• Declining Revenue:

  While the show was once a strong revenue generator for CBS, recent reports suggest that ad revenue has plummeted. 
• Financial Losses:

  CBS executives reportedly considered ways to cut costs but ultimately decided the show could not be viable, according to The New York Times. 
• Competition and Changing Viewing Habits:

  Younger viewers are increasingly moving away from traditional television, impacting the viewership and revenue of late-night shows.”
  
  
  A show is losing $50 million a year and people things it’s because Trump doesn’t like it? And then a former host of The. Jew says the same thing and people take that as confirmation? The reality is shows that lose millions of dollars get canceled. 

It’s the way of the maga left.

in addition to losing money, the Redstone family is getting out at a time when most tv assets are declining in value. They obviously need to tighten the ship, minimize losses and avoid potentially costly legal fights. But the left sees the left in everything. Never heard of that other show btw? Is it also a talk show?

hunterh75

This what happens when your only material is leftist political rants night after night. Every now and then is expected but the hatred from the libs is insane.  Kimmell and Fallon.....your next, lol.  Conan was the last of the greats. 

shecky

"Trump must be stopped, at all costs! He hates Nazis! Wait a minute - I just bought a new car."

Halifax2TheMax

mace1229 said:

I just googled “cost of late show” and this is the summary it provided:

“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," like other late-night talk shows, costs over $100 million annually to produce, according to The New York Times. Recent reports indicate that while the show was once profitable, it has been losing money in recent years, with one source stating it was losing $40 million to $50 million a year. Despite its high production cost and declining viewership among younger audiences, the show has maintained a leading position in its time slot. 

Here's a breakdown:

• High Production Costs:

  Shows like "The Late Show" require significant investment in talent, staff, set design, and production equipment. 
• Declining Revenue:

  While the show was once a strong revenue generator for CBS, recent reports suggest that ad revenue has plummeted. 
• Financial Losses:

  CBS executives reportedly considered ways to cut costs but ultimately decided the show could not be viable, according to The New York Times. 
• Competition and Changing Viewing Habits:

  Younger viewers are increasingly moving away from traditional television, impacting the viewership and revenue of late-night shows.”
  
  
  A show is losing $50 million a year and people things it’s because Trump doesn’t like it? And then a former host of The. Jew says the same thing and people take that as confirmation? The reality is shows that lose millions of dollars get canceled. 

Then CBS/Paramount should have nothing to worry about in an investigation and be forthcoming with record requests and depositions. 

Indifference

Truth https://x.com/stoolpresidente/status/1946605144382054779?s=46

PJ_Soul

I think the decision was political, and financial. I wonder what is going to happen with the rest of the late night shows thought? Colbert was actually the only show currently increasing its viewship right now, so presumably the others are doing even worse financially. So if the decision was all about money, then how are the other networks hanging onto their late nighters? 

Tim Simmons

Indifference said:

Truth https://x.com/stoolpresidente/status/1946605144382054779?s=46

If anything, I give him credit for not licking CBS' boot. 


But yes, if it is indeed losing 40 million, i get ending the show. 

Tim Simmons

The timing is a bad look though (coupled with the future chairman meeting with the FCC). Obviously correlation doesn't equal causation, but I get how people ran with it. 

Tim Simmons

But also lol at the Barstool tool. You're parents haven't been impressed by anything you ever done? lol. Way to tell on yourself

mace1229

PJ_Soul said:

I think the decision was political, and financial. I wonder what is going to happen with the rest of the late night shows thought? Colbert was actually the only show currently increasing its viewship right now, so presumably the others are doing even worse financially. So if the decision was all about money, then how are the other networks hanging onto their late nighters? 

I just googled this. Fallon has less than half the viewership of Colbert, but here’s the summary it gave:

Here's a more detailed breakdown: 

• Weekly Production Cost: $1.7 million 
• Annual Production Cost (45 weeks): $76.5 million (excluding talent and top producer salaries) 
• New York Tax Credits: New York offers a 30% tax credit for talk shows filmed with a studio audience of at least 200, provided they have a production budget of at least $30 million and have been filmed outside New York for at least five seasons, according to Business Insider. 
• Profitability: While the show's production costs are high, it is still considered profitable for NBC, even though it generates less profit than in the past, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Bottom line is he’s still profitable and Colbert isn’t. That tax credit has got to help, but probably other factors like lower production cost and a better sponsorship/cost ratio compared to Colbert.. 

igotid88

Given that a lot of companies have bowed to orange man. I can't rule it out.

tbergs

mace1229 said:

PJ_Soul said:

I think the decision was political, and financial. I wonder what is going to happen with the rest of the late night shows thought? Colbert was actually the only show currently increasing its viewship right now, so presumably the others are doing even worse financially. So if the decision was all about money, then how are the other networks hanging onto their late nighters? 

I just googled this. Fallon has less than half the viewership of Colbert, but here’s the summary it gave:

Here's a more detailed breakdown: 

• Weekly Production Cost: $1.7 million 
• Annual Production Cost (45 weeks): $76.5 million (excluding talent and top producer salaries) 
• New York Tax Credits: New York offers a 30% tax credit for talk shows filmed with a studio audience of at least 200, provided they have a production budget of at least $30 million and have been filmed outside New York for at least five seasons, according to Business Insider. 
• Profitability: While the show's production costs are high, it is still considered profitable for NBC, even though it generates less profit than in the past, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Bottom line is he’s still profitable and Colbert isn’t. That tax credit has got to help, but probably other factors like lower production cost and a better sponsorship/cost ratio compared to Colbert.. 

Colbert is filmed in New York as well. Your earlier numbers didn't add up either when it mentioned the show generated half of what it did years back, but that was still double the production cost. Not sure where they're losing all the money 🤔.

Halifax2TheMax

I’m sure records requests, external audits of the books and sworn depositions could get to the bottom of it.

mace1229

tbergs said:

mace1229 said:

PJ_Soul said:

I think the decision was political, and financial. I wonder what is going to happen with the rest of the late night shows thought? Colbert was actually the only show currently increasing its viewship right now, so presumably the others are doing even worse financially. So if the decision was all about money, then how are the other networks hanging onto their late nighters? 

I just googled this. Fallon has less than half the viewership of Colbert, but here’s the summary it gave:

Here's a more detailed breakdown: 

• Weekly Production Cost: $1.7 million 
• Annual Production Cost (45 weeks): $76.5 million (excluding talent and top producer salaries) 
• New York Tax Credits: New York offers a 30% tax credit for talk shows filmed with a studio audience of at least 200, provided they have a production budget of at least $30 million and have been filmed outside New York for at least five seasons, according to Business Insider. 
• Profitability: While the show's production costs are high, it is still considered profitable for NBC, even though it generates less profit than in the past, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Bottom line is he’s still profitable and Colbert isn’t. That tax credit has got to help, but probably other factors like lower production cost and a better sponsorship/cost ratio compared to Colbert.. 

Colbert is filmed in New York as well. Your earlier numbers didn't add up either when it mentioned the show generated half of what it did years back, but that was still double the production cost. Not sure where they're losing all the money 🤔.

I’m just going by the google results I shared, and they show it costs more to produce Colbert than Fallon. I assume it’s accurate, but maybe not, I haven’t read into it more than what I quoted. But I have no reason to believe it’s not accurate.
The tax break mentioned is for shows filmed in NY that previously were not (I assume to bring outside business to NY). So that would apply to Fallon and not Colbert I believe, Tonight show used to be LA and late show was always NY.
I’m not sure what you mean by my previous number not adding up. Multiple sources I saw put the production of Colbert over $100 million and losing about $40 million. I don’t see where I ever said the revenue was half what it used to be but still double the production cost (which would be it at $200, I don’t see anyone claiming that show makes $200).
The show is a sinking ship, from a business perspective.

Halifax2TheMax

“A thing to live with if you’re going to be branded that way.”

Tim Simmons

my only question is, we’re they given a chance to cut costs? I mean clearly that’s a lot of overhead (the difference with Fallon is, NBC owns 30 rock, so its costs are spread across all programming - as I’m sure lots of crew positions are).

both sides (TLS and CBS) are sort of existing in the ambiguity of the details. We may never really get the full story. 

Lerxst1992

Halifax2TheMax said:

mace1229 said:

I just googled “cost of late show” and this is the summary it provided:

“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," like other late-night talk shows, costs over $100 million annually to produce, according to The New York Times. Recent reports indicate that while the show was once profitable, it has been losing money in recent years, with one source stating it was losing $40 million to $50 million a year. Despite its high production cost and declining viewership among younger audiences, the show has maintained a leading position in its time slot. 

Here's a breakdown:

• High Production Costs:

  Shows like "The Late Show" require significant investment in talent, staff, set design, and production equipment. 
• Declining Revenue:

  While the show was once a strong revenue generator for CBS, recent reports suggest that ad revenue has plummeted. 
• Financial Losses:

  CBS executives reportedly considered ways to cut costs but ultimately decided the show could not be viable, according to The New York Times. 
• Competition and Changing Viewing Habits:

  Younger viewers are increasingly moving away from traditional television, impacting the viewership and revenue of late-night shows.”
  
  
  A show is losing $50 million a year and people things it’s because Trump doesn’t like it? And then a former host of The. Jew says the same thing and people take that as confirmation? The reality is shows that lose millions of dollars get canceled. 

Then CBS/Paramount should have nothing to worry about in an investigation and be forthcoming with record requests and depositions. 

So you want the government to mandate what contracts corporations enter into?

authoritarian much?

Halifax2TheMax

Lerxst1992 said:

Halifax2TheMax said:

mace1229 said:

I just googled “cost of late show” and this is the summary it provided:

“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," like other late-night talk shows, costs over $100 million annually to produce, according to The New York Times. Recent reports indicate that while the show was once profitable, it has been losing money in recent years, with one source stating it was losing $40 million to $50 million a year. Despite its high production cost and declining viewership among younger audiences, the show has maintained a leading position in its time slot. 

Here's a breakdown:

• High Production Costs:

  Shows like "The Late Show" require significant investment in talent, staff, set design, and production equipment. 
• Declining Revenue:

  While the show was once a strong revenue generator for CBS, recent reports suggest that ad revenue has plummeted. 
• Financial Losses:

  CBS executives reportedly considered ways to cut costs but ultimately decided the show could not be viable, according to The New York Times. 
• Competition and Changing Viewing Habits:

  Younger viewers are increasingly moving away from traditional television, impacting the viewership and revenue of late-night shows.”
  
  
  A show is losing $50 million a year and people things it’s because Trump doesn’t like it? And then a former host of The. Jew says the same thing and people take that as confirmation? The reality is shows that lose millions of dollars get canceled. 

Then CBS/Paramount should have nothing to worry about in an investigation and be forthcoming with record requests and depositions. 

So you want the government to mandate what contracts corporations enter into?

authoritarian much?

No, whether business with government oversight and approval is conducted fairly and without bribes like some third world shit hole country, to use COOTWH’s terminology. Level playing field much.

“Government mandating which contracts corporations enter into?” There you go again.

Lerxst1992

Tim Simmons said:

my only question is, we’re they given a chance to cut costs? I mean clearly that’s a lot of overhead (the difference with Fallon is, NBC owns 30 rock, so its costs are spread across all programming - as I’m sure lots of crew positions are).

both sides (TLS and CBS) are sort of existing in the ambiguity of the details. We may never really get the full story. 

I’m sure the buyer had a lot to do with this. But skydance doesn’t draw internet eyeballs, so we have this made up silly stuff about cbs not losing money when the entire industry is in trouble . Have you done a lot of M&A work? Buyers usually want a say in upcoming significant contracts, especially ones that lose money. That’s the story here.

But the liberal message is lost yet again, because the senate voted Thursday without requiring cloture on a rarely used procedural rule to defund pbs.

There was a huge political message here for rural regions that rely on PBS NPR for essential communication, that it’s easier to tear things down than build them up, and this procedural rule was an excellent example to politic on.


But the dem message is lost in this non story about Colbert.