STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Stephen Colbert faced his audience at CBS's "The Late Show" yesterday and gave some news.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT")
STEPHEN COLBERT: I want to let you know something that I found out just last night. Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending "The Late Show" in May. And...
(BOOING)
INSKEEP: CBS said in a news release that the decision was, quote, "purely a financial decision." At least two senators have questioned whether politics played a role in the move to cancel the show, which was just nominated for an Emmy this week. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans is with us to talk about this. Eric, good morning.
ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: Yeah, good morning.
INSKEEP: I can't say that I was completely surprised because I was aware of some of the backstory here, and yet I was shocked when I was looking at a television and saw this news.
DEGGANS: Yeah, I mean, I was certainly surprised. I mean, CBS has said that the show's been No. 1 in late night for, like, nine straight seasons. But, you know, all the broadcast late-night shows have lost ratings and money. Viewers are turning away from traditional TV and they're moving to streaming. Last year, NBC's "Late Night With Seth Meyers," for instance, let go of its live band, citing costs. And when host Taylor Tomlinson left "After Midnight" - that's the show that aired after Colbert's program on CBS - the network just canceled the series. So it still seems like a much bigger move to eliminate an 11:35 p.m. show, especially since they don't seem to have a replacement lined up.
INSKEEP: Yeah, this is a program that's been there with a couple of different hosts for decades. What are some Democrats saying about what they think might be the other motive here?
DEGGANS: Well, you know, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff was a guest on Colbert's show last night, and he posted on social media, quote, "if Paramount and CBS ended 'The Late Show' for political reasons, the public deserves to know and deserves better." And that sentiment was echoed in a post by Senator Elizabeth Warren. And this all kind of connects to the fact that CBS's owner, Paramount, has been trying to get government approval for the sale to Skydance Media. Paramount recently settled a lawsuit that was filed by President Donald Trump. That was a lawsuit that a lot of legal experts thought the company had a good chance of winning, reportedly for $60 million. Now, Colbert, who's been a longtime critic of Trump, called the settlement a, quote, "big fat bribe" in his monologue on Monday, and CBS said in its statement they insisted that cancellation, quote, "is not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount." I asked the White House for comment, and I haven't heard back.
INSKEEP: There's this wider context of the Trump administration's attacks on the media, of this merger of the Federal Communications Commission. What are the wider implications here?
DEGGANS: Well, you know, Colbert's cancellation turns our attention to another late-night show owned by Paramount that has also been highly critical of President Trump and the lawsuit, Comedy Central's "The Daily Show." Media reporter Oliver Darcy wrote in his Status newsletter last week that Paramount's new owners could oust Colbert or "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart and cite cost-cutting to avoid criticism. Paramount also saw two executives leave CBS News earlier this year over pressures that were exerted on the news magazine "60 Minutes" - leaves a lot of questions about how critical anyone on Paramount shows can be now of President Trump. And if the highest-rated show in broadcast late night is canceled, how long are the other shows in late night going to last?
INSKEEP: If you had just one sentence, which is what we have time for, what's Colbert's legacy?
DEGGANS: His legacy is effectively replacing a late-night pioneer, David Letterman, and coining the term truthiness.
INSKEEP: (Laughter).
DEGGANS: In his first "Colbert Report" episode in 2005, he described how people think something is true because they fervently believe it to be true, which might describe a lot of our political discourse these days.
INSKEEP: Eric Deggans, I believe you.
DEGGANS: All righty. That's all I need. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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