The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Did You Know?

• For the first few weeks, Colbert performed his own voiceovers for the intro; he later used Jen Spyra, the first female late night announcer.
• In Canada, the show aired on Global, and in Australia on Network 10.

Production

Colbert was given near-full control of the show, with little interference from CBS management regarding format. He brought most of his staff from The Colbert Report, along with outsiders such as Brian Stack and Jon Stewart, who served as executive producer. Colbert no longer used the character he had portrayed on The Colbert Report, remarking to Jeb Bush that he used to play a narcissistic conservative pundit but was now just a narcissist. The Ed Sullivan Theater underwent a full restoration to its original 1927 appearance after Letterman's final episode, including uncovering the ceiling, stained-glass windows, and restoring a chandelier, made possible by advances in technology that required less sound and video equipment. On April 13, 2016, former CBS This Morning and Morning Joe executive producer Chris Licht was named showrunner, as CBS had concerns about the show's weak online presence compared to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and The Late Late Show with James Corden. Licht's news programming experience was expected to complement Colbert's topical strengths. On October 17, 2019, Colbert renewed his contract through August 2023. Production was suspended on March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic; from March 30, 2020, the show was produced from Colbert's home as A Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and from August 10, from a smaller set without a studio audience. On August 4, 2020, music producer Giovanni Cianci was fired following sexual misconduct allegations.

Episodes

The series premiere featured George Clooney, Jeb Bush, a thank-you to David Letterman, and a rendition of Sly and the Family Stone's 'Everyday People' with Mavis Staples and other musicians; the episode nearly missed its broadcast due to technical difficulties. An early interview with Vice President Joe Biden received particular acclaim. After the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks, Colbert devoted his program to that city. A special football-themed episode aired as the lead-out for Super Bowl 50 in 2016, with guests including President Barack Obama (taped), Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Will Ferrell, and Megyn Kelly. In February 2016, model Sarah McDaniel appeared after being featured on the first non-nude Playboy cover; a wardrobe failure led Colbert to joke and place a paper towel on her chest, which McDaniel later called one of the worst moments of her life. The clip became the most-watched video on The Late Show's YouTube channel, with over 48 million views as of 2024. On June 22, 2016, CBS announced two weeks of live episodes during the 2016 Republican and Democratic conventions. The July 18 episode opened with a musical number comparing the Republican convention to 'Christmas in July', featured Jon Stewart (revealed to have been living off-grid) learning of Donald Trump's nomination, a revival of Colbert's Colbert Report persona for The Word on 'Trumpiness', and a filmed sketch as his Hunger Games-inspired character Julius Flickerman. Stewart appeared again the following Thursday, criticizing Fox News after the firing of CEO Roger Ailes. These episodes were praised for returning to news-oriented comedy.

Cancellation controversy

In June 2023, CBS extended Stephen Colbert’s contract for three more years, keeping him on through 2026. By May 2025, CBS executive George Cheeks acknowledged that while Colbert had led the 11:30pm slot for nine years, the late-night time period was tough for ad sales. On July 17, 2025, Colbert and CBS announced the show would end when his contract expired in May 2026. CBS called the cancellation a purely financial move, unrelated to the show’s performance, content, or other issues at Paramount. According to Ankler Media, Colbert’s manager learned of the decision in late June but waited two weeks until Colbert returned from vacation to tell him. Puck reported that around July 4, 2025, Colbert’s team was warned the show—losing $40 million annually—was at risk. The final call came on July 16, and Colbert broke the news the next day, ahead of CBS’s planned timeline. This all unfolded as Paramount, CBS’s owner, was finalizing a multibillion-dollar merger with Skydance, which needed FCC approval. Skydance CEO David Ellison is the son of billionaire Larry Ellison, a friend and supporter of Donald Trump. The cancellation also came days after CBS and Paramount paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit from President Trump, a settlement Colbert had called “a big fat bribe” on July 14, 2025.

Reception

The Late Show debuted to 8.26 million viewers (Live+7), beating all late-night competition. Its highest ratings—and the highest for the Late Show franchise—came from a live episode after Super Bowl 50 in 2016, averaging 21.1 million viewers. Initial ratings trailed competitors, but the show shifted focus to politics and saw major gains in 2017, aided by satire of the incoming Trump administration. After Trump's inauguration, Colbert narrowly beat Fallon in average weekly viewership for the first time, and the show became the highest-rated late-night talk show for the 2016–2017 season, averaging over 3.2 million nightly viewers. In the 2018–2019 season, it beat The Tonight Show among adults 18–49 for the first time in Colbert's tenure and only the second in franchise history since 1994–1995. The show was the highest-rated American late-night talk show for nine consecutive seasons until its cancellation, the longest winning streak in franchise history. Reviews were mostly positive: The Guardian's Brian Moylan praised its humor, the Los Angeles Times' Robert Lloyd called it a strong start, and Variety's Brian Lowry deemed it mostly terrific, though the post-Super Bowl episode was polarizing, with Lowry calling it a wasted opportunity and Time's Daniel D'Addario calling Colbert's performance stiff and uncomfortable.