According to Deadline, CBS Boss George Cheeks talks bout the decision to cancel The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. There has been much talk about the decision of CBS to cancel the talk show but there has been little talk bout the company itself. After Skydance’s deal to take over Paramount became official this morning, Cheeks, who is Chair of TV Media at the company, put his head above the parapet.
“The challenge in late night is that the advertising marketplace is in significant secular decline,” Cheeks said at a press conference after the deal closed via Deadline. “We are huge fans of Colbert, we love the show, unfortunately the economics made it a challenge for us to keep going.”.
As per Deadline, Cheeks stated that as soon as Taylor Tomlinson (New Couple Gets Quarantined, The Comedy Lineup) nixed the idea of continuing to host After Midnight, which was in the slot formerly housing The Late Late Show with James Corden, it became clear the network “couldn’t stay in that daypart”.
“I know Skydance is going to invest, but they’re going to invest cautiously and wisely, so for me, managing this business is really important for me to double down in primetime and sports,” he added via Deadline.
According to Deadline, Cheeks, who came up in late-night at NBC, said it was “too early to speculate” as to what will replace The Late Show, deflecting a question about moving Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen (47 Meters Down, Friend Request), a syndicated show that has taken After Midnight’s slot. He didn’t specify how much The Late Show was losing, although insiders were pushing around numbers. Cheek did admit that it was “significant” and in the “tens of millions of dollars”. “At the end of the day, it just wasn’t sustainable to continue,” he added.
As per Deadline, many questioned the timing of the decision as it came after Stephen Colbert (Strngers with Candy, Darrylgorn) had accused the company of taking a “big fat bribe” when it came to settling a lawsuit with President Donald Trump (The Apprentice, The Girls of Hedsor Hall).
“We were at a period from a production standpoint where every year seasonally, this is when we negotiate new deals for writers and producers. In addition, this is going to be the third season of Colbert’s three-year deal. So, in order to do those deals, we were going to have to change the terms from what they traditionally are, September to August to September to May. It was incumbent upon me and us to make it clear to Stephen and his reps that this is where we were,” he added via Deadline.
