Though CBS has opted for the “immediate profitability” of leasing its 11:35 p.m. timeslot to Byron Allen, the network is actively having conversations about other concepts, including a possible return to original late-night programming.
That’s according to George Cheeks, Paramount’s chair of TV media, who spoke with reporters at a Los Angeles press conference Wednesday.
Cheeks’ comments echo what LateNighter’s Bill Carter reported when the network announced that Byron Allen’s comedy panel show Comics Unleashed would take over the slot being vacated by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert late next month, in an expansion of Allen’s existing time buy deal with the network.
Various options are said to be on the table, ranging from giving the time period back to the network’s affiliates, to airing repeats of primetime dramas, to new, less expensive-to-produce original late-night programming.
“I started in late night. I grew up in late night,” Cheeks, who led NBC’s late-night business operations from 2012–2018, said. “I think the reality is that the reach is still there, but the reach is there primarily on YouTube, which is under-monetized. So if we’re going to go back in that space, we have to go back in that space with a different financial model.”
As LateNighter has reported, prior to signing with Allen for the 11:35 p.m. slot, the network had been taking other pitches. Were CBS to return to original programming, it would likely not in any way resemble The Late Show or any of its current late-night brethren. More likely candidates include one-on-one interview shows like those once hosted by Bob Costas and Tom Snyder, or perhaps an existing podcast or YouTube show.
Comics Unleashed takes over the 11:35 p.m. timeslot on May 22, the night after The Late Show’s series finale. Another Allen Media Group show, Funny You Should Ask, will slide into the 12:37 a.m. time slot at the same time. Allen’s deal with CBS, in which he pays the network to air his shows and sells the commercial time to advertisers himself, will expire at the end of the 2026–27 television season.
Does CBS realize how many viewers they are losing when Colbert goes? Not just for that time slot. Purposely not watching any CBS.
I already gave up and just watch Colbert on my phone.
I’m one of those Colbert YouTube viewers. My household watches almost no regular TV anymore. I catch Colbert on my phone, along with Kimmel and Stewart, etc. Stephen will be SORELY missed.
CBS “likely” wants to put some space in-between the end of one franchise while,creating another.
I love how you write this story as if we are massive CBS fans who just want to know whats coming next on our favourite CBS station lol… we dont care. We like Stephen, not CBS.