CBS will end "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in 2026 as part of exiting the late night talkshow game all together

As of May 2026, CBS will be out of the late-night talk show game as "The Late Show" will be ending. To a degree, it will be the end of an era in that Colbert has been hosting the show since September 2015. However, this is not merely the end of Colbert hosting the show. CBS debuted "The Late Show" in 1993 when it was inaugurated for David Letterman to compete against "The Tonight Show." A show that has been in existence for over 30 years will be coming to a close. 

There has been speculation - one might call it rampant speculation - that this was done by Paramount as part of clearing the decks and getting in the good graces of the Trump administration to keep the deal that will sell the company to Skydance afloat. They have, after all, already settled (some call it "bribed") with Trump for $16 million over the "60 Minutes" kerfuffle. The folks that make such decisions about "The Late Show" have cited "financial concerns" for the cancellation, which some are skeptical of.

The skepticism is warranted, but not definitively true. After all, Paramount and CBS did not merely oust Colbert, but cancelled the frnachise completely. This comes not long after CBS said that they weren't going to find a new host for "After Midnight," or pivot again in the 12:35 p.m. ET hour, after Taylor Tomlinson stepped down as host. This decision was, one assumes, made with the Skydance folks in mind. Maybe they simply don't want to be in the late night game.

Late night may be more expensive than reruns of some "NCIS" spinoff, but it does provide some brand cache for the network. These days people watch late night shows less often, but they do become fodder for YouTube videos and social media clips on a regular basis. Paramount is ceding all of that by canceling "The Late Show."

In terms of what is being lost, though, quality wise it's...not a ton. Colbert was brilliant on "The Daily Show" and we loved "The Colbert Report." We also are big fans of "Strangers With Candy," the bananas cult sitcom that he made with Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello. On "The Late Show," though, Colbert was sanded down. His edge and his bite were mostly gone. The show could be silly, cheesy even. Were there good comedy bits? Sure, but he never had a recurring bit that really broke through like Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, or James Corden. 

Even if Colbert's "Late Show" was just decent, the fact that CBS is getting out of the late night game all together is disheartening, whatever the reason. Letterman and Colbert are two of the most-important comedic voices of the last 50 years and "The Late Show" was a showcase for both of them. Soon enough, it will be gone.