
Paramount and Skydance's merger has been a headline-maker where all things TV news are concerned, and the ramifications of those changes will continue to be felt well beyond the rest of the 2025 TV schedule. Seemingly most affected, at least at the moment, are CBS' late night slots, with The Late Show with Stephen Colbert getting canceled months after After Midnight's fate was sealed. When it comes to pointing fingers of blame, Paramount and CBS’ new boss has a #1 suspect in mind.
Jeff Shell, the multimedia exec who was previously in charge as NBCUniversal’s CEO from 2019 to 2023, was brought in to take over as President of Paramount for David Ellison’s post-merger reign as CEO. Though he wasn’t responsible for the decision to give the axe to The Late Show following its eleventh season, he didn’t exactly argue to keep the talk show around once he did take over.