Stephen Colbert recently revealed he sent a note of congratulations to Byron Allen after CBS announced that "The Late Show" will be replaced by the producer's show "Comics Unleashed."
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published May 6, the late-night host reacted to news that "Comics Unleashed," a comedy talk show created by Allen, will take over the 11:35PM time slot on CBS immediately after "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" ends later this month.
CBS is leasing the time slot to Allen, who noted to The Los Angeles Times last year the economics of "Comics Unleashed" are appealing to the network because he covers the production costs. "It's not cheaper," he told the Los Angeles Times. "It's zero." In April, Paramount TV Media chair George Cheeks told reporters CBS is still developing other late-night ideas, but the one-year deal with Allen allows the network "to go into immediate profitability in that slot," according to Variety.
David Letterman was the first host of The Late Show, which began in August, 1993. He successfully hosted the show until May 20, 2015, when Colbert took over.
Last July, it was revealed that Colbert’s contract would not be renewed after several years of declining ad revenue and upwards of $40MM in annual losses. Even in television, money talks and losses walk.
A lot of these losses are allegedly caused by the increasing evidence of TDS every night that Colbert displays. It is immediately evident in his declining nightly ratings.
His departure was announced prior to the Skydance Media acquisition of Paramount/Viacom, CBS and all other related media properties. But it is believed the deal never would have been completed had his contract still was in play. And Shari Redstone agreed to that deal in order to realize an $8BB windfall.
Once again, money talks and losers walk.
The new owner of CBS, Paramount Skydance, is owned by the Ellison Family, chaired by David Ellison and has already begun cleaning the house of long-time woke ideologies, even in its news division. And Byron Allen is on a short leash, with a one year contract.
His contract covers both the 11:35 and 12:35 overnight time slots. In addition, CBS is using this year to create immediate profitability while developing other longer-term plans for late-night programming.
Meanwhile, Allen has a year to make CBS, and the rest of us, forget the disaster Stephen Colbert made with his unfunny lack of humor.

