CBS Says Colbert Replacement Show Will Turn $40 Million Loss Into $15 Million Profit
CBS says Byron Allen’s time buy shifts a loss-making hour into profit as Allen covers production costs and sells the ad inventory himself.
- CBS expects to turn a $15 million profit on late night after leasing the 11:30 PM timeslot to Byron Allen under a "time buy" model, replacing Stephen Colbert's The Late Show.
- Declining ad revenue, which dropped nearly 60% since 2017, forced CBS to deem The Late Show "cost prohibitive" to continue; the program was losing roughly $40 million annually.
- Under this arrangement, Allen covers 100% of production costs and manages ad inventory himself. His program debuted to 995,000 viewers, far below the 6.7 million who watched Stephen Colbert's finale.
- David Letterman, the show's predecessor host, likened network executives to "lying weasels" in recent criticism. The cancellation ended a run heavily reliant on political humor that had outperformed rivals.
- Allen's late-night strategy coincides with his acquisition of BuzzFeed, which closed Wednesday, as the company pursues free-streaming video expansion amid industry-wide late-night viewership decline.
32 Articles
32 Articles
Nolte: CBS Lost $40 Million on Stephen Colbert, Profits $15 Million with Byron Allen
Dumb people are crowing over the fact that Byron Allen’s Comics Unleashed drew only 878,000 viewers, which is less than the 2.15 million his oh-so sacred predecessor, Stephen Colbert, drew on average.
Colbert Humiliated By CBS News In 'Cold' Statement After Departure: '$55M Swing'
CBS appears to be making a pointed statement about the future of late-night television following Stephen Colbert’s departure. Just weeks after ending the “The Late Show” franchise, the network is publicly celebrating a new partnership with media entrepreneur Byron Allen, a move critics say underscores why executives decided to move on from Colbert in the first place. According to Breitbart columnist John Nolte, CBS had been losing roughly $40 mi…
CBS Claims Canceling Stephen Colbert Has Made It $55 Million
CBS Claims Canceling Stephen Colbert Has Made It $55 Million CBS’s stated reason for canceling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was that the show was losing them $40 million a year. Critics predisposed to think the world revolves around Donald Trump were hostile and outright dismissive of that, but on Thursday CBS came out with more specifics that argued that their new arrangement with Bryon Allen has netted them $55 million. CBS was also und…
Watauga Democrat
CBS Says Colbert Replacement Show Will Turn $40 Million Loss Into $15 Million Profit
Byron Allen is said to be 'renting' the time slot for $15 million a year.
CBS Says The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Was Losing $40 Million a Year & Now They Are Making a $15 Million Profit on That Time Slot
CBS has transformed a significant financial drain in its late-night programming into a steady profit through a strategic agreement that shifts operational responsibility to independent producer Byron Allen. For years, CBS says the network absorbed annual losses of $40 million on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, a figure that reflected high production costs, fluctuating […] The post CBS Says The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Was Losing $40 Mi…
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