The cancellation of The Late Present with Stephen Colbert has despatched shockwaves all through the TV trade, as many have mentioned what it signifies about the way forward for late night time. On a extra micro scale, many have expressed disapproval of CBS’ choice to axe the long-running program. The community attributed the transfer to “monetary” causes and, since then, it’s been alleged that Colbert’s discuss present has been dropping tens of millions of {dollars} a 12 months. Now, Jimmy Kimmel is sharing his two cents in regards to the monetary-related chatter.
Per sources, the purported monetary issues that The Late Present has been experiencing are on account of diminishing promoting income. It was reported by CNN that the late-night discuss exhibits throughout all the most important networks introduced in $220 million, which is considerably lower than the $439 million they reportedly earned in 2018. When it particularly involves Stephen Colbert’s present, it’s been alleged that the manufacturing was dropping the Eye community $40 million a 12 months. (To be clear, CBS hasn’t launched any concrete monetary figures.)
Jimmy Kimmel evidently took difficulty with the notion that his late-night TV peer’s program had been dropping a lot money. The longtime host mentioned the matter with Selection whereas discussing his work and his latest 2025 Emmy nominations. When discussing the matter, Kimmel acknowledged the importance of advert income within the enterprise. Nevertheless, Kimmel additionally argued that the insiders sharing the reported numbers didn’t think about one other variable:
I simply need to say that the concept that Stephen Colbert’s present was dropping $40 million a 12 months is past nonsensical. These alleged insiders who supposedly analyze the budgets of the exhibits — I don’t know who they’re, however I do know they don’t know what they’re speaking about. They appear to solely be centered on promoting income and have fully forgotten about affiliate charges, which quantity within the tons of of tens of millions — in all probability in whole billions — and it’s essential to allocate a sure proportion of these charges to late-night exhibits.
Affiliate charges seek advice from cash that TV suppliers should pay networks for carrying their respective channels. With the idea that these charges are nonetheless excessive, the Jimmy Kimmel Dwell host is arguing that The Late Present shouldn’t be hemorrhaging cash as insinuated. Kimmel went on to share extra ideas, even mentioning his personal private experiences along with his eponymous program:
It truly is shocking how little the media appears to learn about how the media works. There’s simply not a snowball’s likelihood in hell that that’s wherever close to correct. Even that — that’s all you must know. Immediately he’s dropping $40 million a 12 months? I’ll inform you, the primary 10 years I did the present, they claimed we weren’t making any cash — and we had 5 instances as many viewers on ABC as we do now. Who is aware of what’s true? All I do know is that they maintain paying us — and that’s sort of all you must know.
There are those that proceed to debate whether or not The Late Present’s cancellation was certainly on account of cash. Some are of the idea that it was politically motivated, because it got here after CBS settled a $16 million lawsuit with U.S. President Donald Trump, which was a transfer Stephen Colbert overtly criticized on air. That lawsuit was additionally mentioned to have been the ultimate component standing in the best way of the merger between Paramount (CBS’ father or mother firm) and Skydance.
Following all of that, Jimmy Kimmel was amongst those that spoke out negatively in regards to the cancellation. Amid his Emmys marketing campaign, Kimmel has additionally celebrated Stephen Colbert by renting a billboard of himself with the caption, “I’m voting for Stephen.” Others have since defended Colbert because the information broke, with The Each day Present’s Jon Stewart giving a heated rant on the matter. In the meantime, Final Week Tonight’s John Oliver expressed disappointment, given Colbert hoped to move the exhibit to a different host sometime.
Hypothesis relating to the specifics behind The Late Present’s axing will certainly proceed to be debated. Nevertheless, one thing that many appear to agree upon, together with Jimmy Kimmel, is the altering late-night panorama.