The recent cancelation of The Late Show host Stephen Colbert is a study in projection, socialism, and capitalism. Colbert, who reportedly makes up to $20 million a year, isn’t actually immediately fired. CBS announced it is canceling The Late Show, not finding another host, in May 2026 when Colbert’s current contract ends. Colbert will make another $15 million+ until then. Normal Americans can only wish they were “fired” that way.
CBS says it’s entirely a business decision, but Democrats, including the many Democrat politicians who regularly appear on Colbert’s alleged comedy show, vehemently disagree. The problem is Colbert hasn’t been funny for years, if ever. His show has turned into a leftist political forum, largely for Trump Derangement Syndrome sufferers.
Graphic: X Post
Guests like Senator Elizabeth Warren claim the cancellation is an attack on free speech, so Americans "deserve to know" why Colbert was canceled. It’s a failed TV show. That’s another leftist “right” not to be found in the Constitution. Where was she when the original Star Trek was canceled?
Graphic: X Post
Dems have a rhetorical problem. They must simultaneously maintain that Colbert is a bi-partisan comedian whose show is wildly popular while also claiming Colbert is one of theirs, a particularly effective leftist political hack. That’s the only possible reason Trump could have forced CBS to fire Colbert next May; that is, to get his vital, and particularly dangerous to Trump, political commentary off the air. Absent that narrative, they’re reduced to fans who don’t want to see a favorite show canceled...in 11 months.
An anonymous CBS staffer is on the Dem bandwagon:
“I’ve lost interest in extreme POVs on either end, but I see this as a chilling of free speech and the timing seems to send a strong message that this is cause and effect for what he said about the settlement,” the CBS staffer said.
Dems also have a practical problem. Unlike the Biden’s Handler’s Administration, Donald Trump isn’t weaponizing the federal government to suppress Dems’ speech. Their messaging isn’t going over so well these days, and their media propaganda outlets are losing viewers to podcasts and alternative media. No longer able to dictate a universal narrative, they’re panicking and projecting, accusing even CBS, one of their most reliable propaganda outlets, of censorship.
The worst Democrat problem is capitalism. CBS—indeed, every media outlet—is in business to make money. That’s a reality that recently horrified NPR. In TV, viewership, particularly by the right, lucrative demographic, is everything. Colbert’s most faithful demographic is the non-lucrative elderly. In 2025, Gutfeld! averaged 3.1 million viewers. During the same period, The Late Show managed only 1.9 million. Particularly telling is Gutfeld! is a cable show reaching far fewer viewers than the networks, but the coveted 18-49 demographic still favors Gutfeld over Colbert by 248,000 to 188,000.
Whining about his future cancellation, Colbert, on air, asked: "How could it purely be a financial decision if ‘The Late Show’ is No. 1 in ratings?"
If you ignore Gutfeld, he’s sort of right. Jimmy Kimmel averages 1.5 million viewers, Jimmy Fallon 1.1 million, and Seth Meyers 751,000. The realist reality is Gutfeld on cable, with a much smaller viewer pool, beats them all.
Graphic: X Post
Probably the worst problem for Democrats is dollars and sense. Colbert has a staff of 200; apparently, none write jokes. Viewers don’t find anti-Trump/America snark and obscenities funny. Gutfield manages to produce his show with far fewer staff.
It costs CBS $100 million per season to produce Colbert’s show. If the show were popular, drawing in the right demographic, that might be sustainable. But The Late Show loses $40 million+ per year. Firing Colbert and hiring a more popular, less political host for less couldn’t begin to address that kind of deficit. CBS is no fan of Trump or Normal Americans, but eventually, fiscal reality prevails. Obviously, CBS made the determination that there’s not nearly enough money to be had in late-night TV with any host. They’re still sufficiently leftist to keep Colbert on for an additional year to save face and mollify the leftists turning on them.
But what about CBS’s 60 Minutes settlement and its merger requiring FTC approval? Dems are suggesting Colbert’s long-term firing is a sacrificial lamb to get that merger:
"I believe this kind of complicated financial sentiment with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles. It’s ‘big fat bribe,'" Colbert said. "Because it all comes as Paramount’s owners are trying to get the Trump administration to approve the sale of our network to a new owner, Skydance!"
One unfunny TV host whose show is being canceled in 11 months when his contract expires, doesn’t seem much of a Trumpian censorship victory.
On a different subject, if you are not already a subscriber, you may not know that we’ve implemented something new: A weekly newsletter with unique content from our editors for subscribers only. These essays alone are worth the cost of the subscription.
Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.