The Numbers That Ended The Late Show: $100M Budget, $40M Loss, 2.7M Viewers

CBS has officially cancelled Stephen Colbert’s show after 11 seasons, and these tweets explain why.

Colbert’s audience has been dropping as fewer people watch cable and late-night shows. Colbert took over The Late Show in 2015, and it apparently averaged about 2.7 million viewers a night during the show's final quarter.

On the show’s last night, Colbert took a picture with a massive number of people who apparently contributed to the show in some way. Brian Stelter shared that picture, which got more views than The Late Show usually did.

Many shows run on a tight budget and skeleton crew, but this wasn’t one of them.

And it’s the reason they were canceled. That head count is more than most decent sized businesses. For 3 jokes a night, at best. https://t.co/50pAssA87w
— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) May 23, 2026

This is the key point about the Colbert cancellation. It was a bad business model. The show employed 200 people, it cost about $500k to produce a single episode. Its annual budget was about $100 million, and it lost ca $40m a year. That just can't go on forever. https://t.co/7NyzskM5sI
— FischerKing (@FischerKing64) May 23, 2026

The budget for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” was $100 million per year. It had a full time staff of 200 people, and was reaching just 2.7 million viewers on an average night during the show’s final quarter on the air.

Colbert was the most-watched late night host. Jimmy… https://t.co/CGPhaczj8t
— Daniel Friedman (@DanFriedman81) May 24, 2026

Colbert wasn’t canceled by Trump, dumb dumb… He was canceled because he was unfunny, unwatchable, and cost CBS $40 million a year!

But sure, Congressman, keep pretending it’s an epic First Amendment crisis instead of basic capitalism doing its job. https://t.co/2upvEzizw2
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) May 24, 2026

I know some people are upset about Stephen Colbert’s show being canceled. But can you at least look at these facts:

His nightly viewer total - 2.5 million
Viewers 18-49 yr old - 225,000 (!)

No one was watching. His show was losing $40 million a year!

There are more viewers on…
— Joshua D Phillips (@JoshPhillipsPhD) May 23, 2026

pic.twitter.com/LU644jFVH2
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 22, 2026

My employment announcement to @townhallcom got more views than the finale of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert https://t.co/icuxajmPXT pic.twitter.com/MBjf6D712j
— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) May 23, 2026

I want to personally thank Brian making it crystal clear why this show as a money pit and only existed to promote Left wing causes and candidates https://t.co/MpOmKmXsEh
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) May 23, 2026

Colbert had more employees than Docusign and lower viewership than random YouTube channels of kids playing video games

No wonder why the show was losing $40M a year and CBS pulled the plug https://t.co/bYfg41LtrG
— Robert Sterling (@RobertMSterling) May 23, 2026

The Late Show failed to attract younger viewers because it wasn't funny, it didn't break news, and it existed to promote the Democrat party.

They’re losing their jobs because they aren’t getting ratings, Jim. I know it’s hard to believe, but people don’t enjoy staying up late to watch sycophantic DNC shills making weak-ass jokes to an audience that’s being told to clap at gunpoint. https://t.co/A9YXQYTFZK
— 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐠 (@CasuallyGreg) May 24, 2026