So Stephen Colbert joins the ranks

[SocialDemocrat61]

of media figures critical of Trump and his administration who have been fired recently. So while Terry Moran, Joy Reid and others have lost their jobs, people like Jake Tapper, Joe & Mika and Bill Maher have kept their’s by either visiting Trump and kissing the ring and/or trashing democrats.
The real question is who will be next? Lawrence O’Donnell? Jon Stewart? Nicole Wallace? Jimmy Kimmel?

[walkingman]

1. I hope NBC doesn't cave - my guess would be Kimmel or O'Donnell. What a world we live in these days.

Reminds me of the McCarthy era in a lot of ways, except the Republican Party is even more cowardly.

[rampartd]

2. they have beenscreaming "cancel culture" at democrats

since the last smothers brothers show 50 tears ago.

[Irish_Dem]

3. Nicole Wallace knows she could be a target.

She made reference to this fact several months ago.

[Paladin]

4. Kimmel spoke for me: "Fuck you, CBS."

The chickenshit, trump-enabling mass media in this country have a huge number of filthy actions for which to answer. Colbert is the latest victim, and it's far from over. Unforgivable.

[Passages]

10. Perfect response.

[Amaryllis]

38. When/where did he say that?

[Paladin]

41. Just hours ago.

Check Google if you don't believe me---the quote is all over the place...

[Amaryllis]

70. I believe you; just wanted the context.

[Paladin]

72. Understood. Thanks for the clarification. (nt)

[doc03]

5. I would guess Jimmy Kimmel will be next, Trump hates him.

[FalloutShelter]

6. Network TV is dying.

All of these journalist/ celebrities have already made their fortune.
Why don’t they all jump ship together and start their own independent cable network?
“Mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore !”, style.

[SocialDemocrat61]

7. It's opposition to Trump that's dying

Or is rather being killed off by the firing of those who criticize him.

[FalloutShelter]

8. No question.

I’m suggesting a work around.
Trump propaganda thrives on independent platforms.
We are behind the curve in that sphere.

[newdeal2]

11. Yup this is exactly what they need to do

If Kimmel is gone next year, he and Colbert should team up to do a podcast/video show a few times a week. They could easily get millions of viewers.

[Fiendish Thingy]

9. That's a pretty odd way to silence a Trump critic

By giving him another 10 months to bash Trump nightly.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and a business decision by a company under new ownership is just that. Colbert and his staff were paid well, and the new owners of CBS will save billions running reruns of Matlock in Colbert’s slot starting next May.

[SocialDemocrat61]

12. And sometimes bs is just bs

Thank God most here in Democratic Underground we know the difference and are not sycophants of the corrupt corporate media .

[Fiendish Thingy]

13. Some at DU have accurate BS detectors

And others see conspiracies where there are none.

[SocialDemocrat61]

14. Who said anything about a conspiracy?

But of course that's a standard catch phrase to belittle inconvenient facts about their corporate masters.

[Fiendish Thingy]

18. Do you believe Colbert's cancellation was demanded by Trump as part of his settlement with CBS?

If so, why are they keeping the show on the air for 10 more months?

They could have cancelled it immediately, at a cost of several million to buy out the remainder of his contract, and just write it off as part of the cost of the settlement, to keep peace with the Trump administration.

But they didn’t.

And now Colbert has 10 more months to say whatever the fuck he wants about Trump.

This is CBS deciding to get out of the late night talk show business, not silencing a Trump critic.

[Bengus81]

22. Because they need ten months to figure out what the hell to do with that slot,who to get,

what kind of show etc,etc. I think the firing goes hand in hand with that Trump settlement,they would pay ANYTHING to get that merger done and they did. It won't cost them jack shit,they'll raise rates on Paramount+ and advertisers.

My Paramount + sub runs out in Sept,it will just stay run out after 6-8 years..............FUCK EM!

[Fiendish Thingy]

24. They've already decided what to do with his time slot.

In Colbert’s announcement last night, he said CBS would not be replacing his show with another late night talk show.

They will either show reruns of a popular show like Matlock, or sell the time to local affiliates to put in paid infomercials.

That doesn’t take 10 months to plan for.

Colbert had 10 months left in his contract, which would have been bought out if his cancellation was part of the settlement with Trump, and the goal was to silence Colbert.

[Bengus81]

29. So why not announce the firing in early Jan 2025? Why not announce in early May

Nah...gets announced barely after they paid off the Fuhrer and his ADDITIONAL demands and Trump probably DID want him fired that day but Paramount refused.

LOL...Matlock re-runs?? Anyone OLD ass enough to remember that show won't be up late enough to every watch.

[Fiendish Thingy]

32. I'm talking about the Matlock reboot with Kathy Bates

It’s in the top five rated network shows and nominated for a bunch of Emmys.

Why would they quickly cave on 60 minutes, completely destroying the integrity of a 60 year old top rated, money making journalistic institution, but resist any demands on Colbert?

It seems more likely they were coming up to the contractual deadline (one full season in advance) to notify Colbert of cancellation without having to buy out his contract.

[Bengus81]

42. The bar for re-running a series has been 100 shows for years,that show has 19 in the can.

So their going to re-run 19 shows over and over?

[Fiendish Thingy]

52. You're thinking about syndication

I’m talking about showing that week’s episode again at 1130pm.

CBS has plenty of cop shows to rerun in that time slot, or they could just let affiliates fill it with infomercials.

[SocialDemocrat61]

23. Never said that

I just find it interesting that several critics of Trump and his administration, such as Joy Reid, Terry Moran and now Colbert, have been fired.

Yes CBS could have canceled the show immediately but the upfronts for the next broadcast year have been closed out. Meaning that CBS has sold the advertising for the show through next year. If they yanked the show now, they'd have to give all that money back. We're talking many millions of dollars, a lot more than just buying Colbert out of his contract. So forgive me for not being an apologist for the corporate media when their corruption is on full display for all to see.

[Fiendish Thingy]

28. Got a link?

Any evidence to support your claim that all the advertising had been sold for the next year?

How about the advertising for Joy Reid’s show? She wasn’t given 10 months to wind things up?

Why haven’t Rachel, Lawrence, Nicolle, etc. been silenced? Why hasn’t Seth Myers been cancelled? Or Kimmel?

CBS cancelled James Corden, then After Midnight, and now Colbert. They are abandoning the Late Night talk show business.

CBS News, a separate division from the network as a whole, has shown its lack of integrity, and Sherri Redstone, the soon-to-be former owner of CBS, has shown her craven willingness to settle with Trump for millions of dollars to enable the sale of the network to a new owner. If silencing Colbert was a requirement for the settlement and more importantly, the merger/sale of CBS, they would have taken the hit financially and cancelled him immediately.

You’ve admitted the 10 month delay is a cost saving business decision, so that pretty much refutes your “silencing Colbert” theory.

[SocialDemocrat61]

51. Here you go

It's a basic guide to how the network upfronts work in the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upfront_(advertising)#United_States

Cable news channels don't operate the same way, so Joy Reid's firing isn't really analogous to Colbert.

As far as Cordon and After Midnight, both shows went off at the end of their seasons. The period through which advertising is sold. And both were announced before the upfronts for the next broadcast year. So there was no loss of advertising dollars. You should note that Carson, Leno and Letterman all ended their runs in May as well. That's the end of their seasons through which advertising is sold.

And I never said anything about 'silencing' Colbert. Again, I just find it interesting that several critics of Trump have been fired recently. So I have to question the coincidence and not be a good little corporate media minion who dare not criticize them.

[Fiendish Thingy]

55. What's the difference?

What the difference between “questioning the coincidence” and claiming Colbert was cancelled to silence him and appease Trump?

Part of “not being a good little corporate media minion” is acknowledging that most of their decisions are financial, not political. They make decisions based on ratings and money.

As you have said, they are the corporate media, and they put their shareholders’ interests ahead of the people, the nation, and democracy’s.

That’s why MSNBC is still the anti-Trump progressive network, and CNN is the performative centrist network, at least for now. Those networks have made calculated business decisions on what they predict will bring them the most profit, regardless of politics.

[SocialDemocrat61]

58. It's asking a question

No one should be threatened by a question. Maybe the corporations themselves or their stockholders.

As far as financial decisions, you are right. And at the moment the biggest financial decision for Viacom/CBS is if the sale to Skydance goes through. A sale that has to be approved by the Trump administration. Interesting.

[Dave says]

64. Colbert's show had top ratings for their time slot so far in 2025

I don't know what their P&L looked like in that time slot, but cancelling the top rated show in the (formerly) coveted 11:30 PM Eastern timeslot looks pretty damn peculiar to me.

Without more info (e.g., the show-based P&L), I'm hard pressed to agree with anyone who said this is simply a financial decision, not from the perspective of the show-based microcosm anyway (perhaps in the bigger picture for CBS and/or Paramount). Now, if it helped them get approval of sale or other political benefit on top of the microcosm P&L, then it starts to make sense. But sure looks like politics was part of the decision.

Broadcast TV -- even cable television -- is showing its dinosaur scales, so there is that. The rules of the game are changing. Streaming on demand is the rising star.

(Cite for ratings, https://latenighter.com/news/ratings/late-night-tv-ratings-q2-2025/ .)

[rubbersole]

57. Just curious, where are your "links"?

[Fiendish Thingy]

59. I'm not claiming Colbert is being silenced

So I have nothing to prove, no links required.

[Wiz Imp]

40. "I just find it interesting that several critics of Trump and his administration...have been fired!"

And a hell of a lot more critics of Trump have NOT been fired!

[Mz Pip]

37. Voiding Colbert's contract

would be very very expensive.

[Fiendish Thingy]

46. More expensive than a $60 billion lawsuit from Trump?

If silencing Colbert was part of the settlement, he wouldn’t have been given ten months’ notice.

[Dave says]

65. Have a cite? (Kiddin') "end of season cancellation" could have been negotiated. I have no cite either.

The financial impact of firing Colbert outright vs. agreement that it can run to end of season is significant. Perhaps Trump's negotiation team agreed for that slight relief. ...But, as I say, I have no cite; this is just showing a different perspective could be placed on it, it's perhaps not a black and white, either/or situation.

[Fiendish Thingy]

73. That perspective doesn't make sense to me

Why would Trump agree to give Colbert ten months opportunity to have scorched earth, I don’t give a fuck what anybody thinks, call Trump Putin’s Cock Holster (which he did once, during the first term) kinds of shows?

I don’t think Trump would agree to that, which is why it wasn’t a demand in the settlement negotiations.

Much more likely a business decision, with Colbert’s contract requiring a one season notice to avoid a big payout. The timing may have been triggered by his mocking of the settlement this week, but it’s been clear for awhile CBS has wanted to get out of the late night game.

[Random Boomer]

15. The Late Show was a cash cow

No matter how much Colbert and staff were paid, the show still pulled a substantial profit for the network. So of course there's a great deal of skepticism about the motivations for canceling the show.

[Fiendish Thingy]

19. Do you have the numbers?

Can you back up your statement with stats on show running costs vs. Show-specific ad revenue?

Ratings alone will not suffice; Colbert was paid very well, and his show had 200 employees, and he was losing in the ratings to FOX’s Greg Gutfield almost every night.

[rubbersole]

25. Colbert is the top rated late night show.

tsf has been wanting him gone for years. The settllement of the frivolous $20 billion lawsuit against 60 Minutes and the "firing" of Colbert to facilitate the Paramount-Skydance sale doesn't pass the smell test as an honest business decision. Just sayin'.

[Fiendish Thingy]

30. Colbert is not the top rated late night show

FOX’s Greg Gutfield has led in the ratings for a couple of years at least.

[BannonsLiver]

43. What's Gutfeld's show like?

[Wiz Imp]

50. Not remotely funny. He's the least funny "comedian" ever.

[BannonsLiver]

74. Thank you. I had assumed the person I asked knew, because they seem REALLY excited about the ratings.

[Wiz Imp]

75. It's right wing "humor" which is never funny.

This description is perfectly on point:

Right-wing comedy just isn’t funny, and there’s an easy explanation for this. Most liberal comics punch up, skewering those in power, whereas conservatives like to punch down, ridiculing those already low on the social ladder, besides the occasional Hollywood celebrity.

But a lot of conservatives still like to watch it. Just “owning the libs” is probably enough to give them malicious satisfaction.

As the ratings I posted a link to show, Gutfeld's ratings in the 18-49 demographic is much lower than his overall ratings meaning his audience is much older than the late night comics.

[underpants]

60. Conservative "humor" basically making fun of people. Punching down they think.

I think he does a monologue but most of the show is him and 3 people sitting around making stupid “jokes” about the day’s news, or at least the news Fox viewers have watched all day.

[Joinfortmill]

45. According to Google, Colbert is most often the highest rated.

I'm on my phone, so not able to provide a link, but you can Google it. Peace.

[Wiz Imp]

47. You're comparing apples to oranges.

When you first said that, I assumed Gutfeld aired at 1130 like the traditional late night shows. But Gutfeld airs at 10:00. That is NOT late night. That is actually prime time. It may theoretically be competing with Colbert, Kimmel & Fallon for viewers, but given it airs an hour and a half earlier, you can't compare ratings. The total TV audience at 10:00 is higher than the audience at 11:30.

[Dave says]

67. Not true, Colbert is top rated in the 11:30 pm eastern time slot - I provided a cite earlier

Gut show in at 9 pm. Totally larger audience to draw from.

Here's TV Guide's listing: https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/gutfeld/tv-listings/1060027798/

It's an apples-to-oranges comparison, Fiendish, isn't it? I know you're not intentionally making this error, but aren't your facts misleading?? I think so.

[Wiz Imp]

27. You have to be kidding. Colbert was losing to Gutfeld? Seriously? Ouch! That's pathetic.

I've always liked Colbert, but if he has lower ratings than Gutfeld, it's hard to imagine his show is making money.

[Fiendish Thingy]

31. Gutfield has the top rated late night show on television. Nt

[Wiz Imp]

35. Wow. That's a sad statement about this country. Gutfeld may be the least funny "comedian" in history.

[RoeVWade]

39. Which "conservative" based comedy TV shows does he compete against?

nt*

[Fiendish Thingy]

48. He's on opposite all the 1130 late night shows

They divide up the audience, and he gets the rest, giving him a plurality win in the ratings.

[Wiz Imp]

53. You're wrong

Gutfeld airs at 10:00 to 11:00 pm ET. Fox News At Night airs from 11:00 to midnight. The Five airs from midnight to 1:00 AM. Gutfeld does NOT go head to head against any of the late night shows. Not Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon or even Seth Myers.

Schedule found here:
https://www.tvinsider.com/network/fox-news/schedule/

[Fiendish Thingy]

56. He still pulls in higher ratings regardless. Nt

[Wiz Imp]

63. Yes, in part because there are many more people watching TV period while it is airing than the number of people

watching TV an hour and a half later. Also, it has no direct competition for viewers in its time slot while Colbert, Kimmel & Fallon split the audience in 3.

If you go by share (percentage of total audience a show draws in their time slot), Colbert's share is higher than Gutfeld's and Kimmel's is really close.

Gutfeld! (FNC)
62 First-run episodes 7.16 share 3,289 million viewers

Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC)
42 First-run episodes 6.95 share 1,772 million viewers

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)
41 First-run episodes 9.22 share 2,417 million viewers

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC)
38 First-run episodes 4.54 share 1,188 million viewers

Also all three 11:30 shows have a higher share than Gutfeld in the 18-49 demographic which is the most valuable to advertisers.

https://latenighter.com/news/ratings/late-night-tv-ratings-q2-2025/

[SocialDemocrat61]

62. Why does the truth matter?

When truth was never the goal in the first place.

[RoeVWade]

54. And it matters that it's conservative. Gutfeld would splinter more if there were other comedy talk shows on TV.

conservative ones that is...

[Dave says]

66. I don't watch television, so I'm unsure, but isn't that Gut guy in a different time slot?

[Wiz Imp]

61. There is absolutely zero evidence for that

Everything that I can find says it is very soon to be a money loser for the network if it isn't already. Filling the time slot with repeats of Matlock or other primetime shows cost the network absolutely nothing - no production costs since the shows already exist unlike Colbert whose production costs are in the millions of dollars.

[orangecrush]

16. All of the above

Idiocracy.

[RainCaster]

17. I hope Apple TV picks him up

That would show the country just how irrelevant the MSM truly is.

[edhopper]

20. Why not cancel now?

Because that would be obvious and put too much truth to the lie that it is "just financial". Now they get him out of the way in time for the midterms.

[Bengus81]

26. Yepper... and just like how the Medicaid cuts don't kick in until two months

AFTER the mid-terms.

[RoeVWade]

49. I believe as someone said, it costs them to break Colbert's contract before it ends.

But maybe we will find out if that's true or not at some point.

[lame54]

71. He will challenge them to pull the plug early...

They left him with nothing to lose

[et tu]

21. our great orrex

has the 'answer'

[Joinfortmill]

33. If they dare to remove ODonnell, the war will break out for real.

[ShepKat]

34. They should join together

make their own network unbeholden to anyone. Call it... antifaux

[RoeVWade]

36. Even if it was financial, the timing of it was a bow to the orange turd.

nt*

[lastlib]

44. Please, dear Sky Daddy, please....

..Give that futhermucker the grand-daddy of all brain clots--debilitating, but not fatal--let him vegetate painfully for the rest of his term before Satan takes him. In the name of Baby Jesus, I ask, Amen.

May my prayer be answered soon.

[diehardblue]

68. Google and Sirius await! It is not over!

[Dawson Leery]

69. kick

[LetMyPeopleVote]

76. An Eye for an Aye