CBS brass say they pulled the plug on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” because of its punishing losses — pegged between $40 million and $50 million a year — and claim politics had nothing to do with it,

Colbert followed “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart’s attack of the deal one week earlier. Stewart works for Comedy Central, also owned by Paramount, making the two comics the most visible internal critics of the $16 million settlement that was announced on July 1.

The second extension of the Skydance Media merger follows Paramount’s $16million settlement with Donald Trump.

Perhaps this is true, but the network that once made Cronkite the most trusted man in America no longer gets the benefit of the doubt. CBS’s owners have made a series of decisions capitulating to President Donald Trump, and the surprise choice to allow Colbert—a consistent, prominent Trump critic—to walk seems like part of that pattern.

In meeting with FCC officials, Skydance's David Ellison promised that CBS's "editorial decision-making reflects the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers."

CBS announced that it was going to cancel The Late Show With Stephen Colbert after Colbert’s contract ends in May 2026. The news comes at a politically fraught moment for CBS and its parent company, Paramount Global.