New York, New York – Since comedian Stephen Colbert‘s Late Show officially ended, viewership for his usual time slot has drastically plummeted.
Last Friday night, during the 11:35 PM ET timeslot that Colbert’s show used to take up, CBS debuted Comics Unleashed – a syndicated stand-up comedy showcase hosted by billionaire Byron Allen.
According to initial Nielsen data reported by LateNighter, the debut only managed to bring in 995,000 viewers – a staggering drop from the night before, when Colbert hosted his final episode to 6.7 million viewers.
Overall, CBS saw an 85% loss in viewership.
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The show’s time switch came after Colbert hosted the last episode of The Late Show, which was axed after he mocked his bosses at CBS for giving $16 million to Donald Trump as part of a legal settlement for allegedly and “maliciously” editing an interview with his Democrat Kamala Harris during the 2024 election.
Though CBS insisted the cancellation was a purely financial decision, critics believe the company was trying to curry Trump’s favor so the administration would support its merger with Paramount.
The deal was approved by Trump’s Federal Communications Commission shortly after.
In April, Allen bought the time slot for “tens of millions” of dollars. He sells the commercial spots to advertisers directly, making the overall production at a fraction of what it typically costs to fund late-night shows.
Though Allen took over Colbert’s spot, it appears the two are still close friends. A day after Colbert’s last show, the comedian guest-hosted the Michigan public access show Only In Monroe, during which he called Allen to ask if the usual hosts of Only In Monroe could guest-host Comedian’s Unleashed.
Colbert later jokingly told Allen, “We’re here on here in Monroe at 11:35 at night, so we’re opposite you, and I hate to do that, but we’re coming for you, brother.”
Though CBS attempted to copyright-strike the episode of Only in Monroe from appearing on social media, it currently has over one million views and counting.
