The end of the 'Late Show' franchise is a major blow for a once-beloved TV format, which has lost relevance and advertising dollars.

A new report from Puck's Matt Belloni is shedding light on the finances that led to CBS' bombshell cancellation of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

“CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery,” Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote on X. “America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.”

Does the end of Colbert's show in May 2026 relate to the Paramount-Skydance merger? To Colbert's criticism of Donald Trump? To the demise of late night television? Who's to say?

The state of late-night TV is keeping media executives from sleeping well. CBS’ decision to cut ties with Stephen Colbert and its decades-old “Late Show” franchise come next May will leave a major hole in the format — but one that has been widening.

Stephen Colbert's friends and colleagues are in shock at The Late Show's surprise cancellation.

Maybe the “Late Show” decision is purely financial. But after Paramount’s cave over “60 Minutes,” it is hard to trust.

Colbert confirmed the cancellation during a show taping on Thursday. CBS said the move was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night."

President Donald Trump was gleeful over Stephen Colbert's cancellation, saying his "talent was even less than his ratings" on Truth Social.

Paramount, the network’s parent, recently agreed to pay President Trump $16 million to settle his lawsuit over the editing of an interview on the CBS News program “60 Minutes.”