It’s difficult to be shocked by entertainment news anymore, but waking up to Stephen Colbert’s announcement that his late night talk show was being canceled had me unable to go back to sleep in the middle of the night. The Paramount and CBS show has been on the air for 33 years, and while CBS has cited “financial reasons” for the decision, the internet is convinced there are alleged political undertones that might have fuelled the final fire.
Speculation aside, what we know for certain is that we’re about to lose one of the greatest TV shows of all time, due to be drawn to a close in May 2026. As more and more networks and streaming services are being impacted by production costs, AI and a general lack of profit, the cancelation is another sorry reminder that the industry feels like it’s on a downward spiral it can’t properly control.
But does it all have to be bad news? The more I had time to think about it, the more I remembered what Netflix said in the last few weeks about its plans to expand unscripted content. If The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is leaving a gap in the talk show market that audiences don’t want it to, the time is perfect for Netflix to fill up the space it already wants to.
