Stephen Colbert, CBS and the collapse of late-night TV politics

Stephen Colbert and I go way back.

I interviewed him many times.

I was on his show, he was on mine.

Whether or not you agree with his liberal crusade — half the country can’t stand it — his latest show has raised questions about political revenge, a fractured media universe and the crumbling future of late night.

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Cosmic ramifications aside for a moment, I first interviewed Colbert when Comedy Central offered a reporter for “The Daily Show” an eight-week trial as host of his own show, and Colbert didn’t know if it would last. He was amiable and as quick-witted as any comedian I’ve ever seen; He was probably the equal of Jon Stewart, too.

While playing a tough conservative anchor on “The Colbert Report,” he once lightly slapped me. In fact, I reported on Fox that some Republicans and right-wing media figures were taking fire at Hillary Clinton’s 69-year-old status and suggesting she had double responsibility as potentially the first female president.

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Colbert turned this into MY by saying Hillary was too old. This was completely wrong, but I know how these things work.

I made a great show of being hurt and responded sarcastically: “It’s about time someone attacked Stephen Colbert. This guy—a fake news anchor if ever there was one—has been slandering hard-working journalists for far too long. Journalists like me… Well, two can play that game, man.”

(Some of my reviewers took this nonsense a little too seriously.)

That didn’t stop Colbert from inviting me as a guest when my book “Reality Show” came out. He was friendly and I had a good time. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when most of my funny lines were cut out and most of hers were kept.

He was the big star.

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Stephen Colbert used a sarcastic tone of voice to mimic people who support President Donald Trump. (Screenshot/GIS)

Colbert, 62, who grew up in South Carolina, is a Catholic and a former altar boy. He experiences some form of dizziness and is hospitalized with a ruptured appendix during a taping.

After leaving Comedy Central, he signed on to CBS’s “Late Show” and placed third.

But after hiring producer Chris Licht from “Morning Joe,” Colbert went completely partisan and fervently anti-Trump. He once called Trump the “Antichrist” (he added that he was joking). It rose to number 1.

This was a double-edged sword. Why deliberately alienate half the audience? It was like drinking a magic potion containing a slow-acting poison pill.

By the way, we can say that Colbert’s interviews with names such as Barack Obama and Joe Biden were quite polite.

Ratings were so good that CBS teams tried to sign Stephen to a long-term contract.

But last year, Colbert accused the network of accepting a “massive bribe.” He was talking about CBS paying $16 million to settle a long-shot Trump lawsuit over a deceptively edited “60 Minutes” segment.

This is Paramount’s Warner Bros. It happened while he was awaiting management approval for his attempted takeover of Discovery – which surprisingly happened a week later.

That’s all it takes. Paramount, owned by Trump friends Larry and David Ellison, announced the cancellation of “The Late Show.” Without consulting the network’s biggest star or discussing ways to trim its 200-person staff.

“I absolutely love” the move, Trump exclaimed.

This was political retaliation, pure and simple. No one believes the “just for financial reasons” nonsense.

But because Colbert repeatedly criticized the network, CBS turned this extended farewell into a national event. What could senior commanders do if they had already fired him?

Celebrity guests in recent weeks have included Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jon Stewart, Steven Spielberg, Bruce Springsteen and founding host David Letterman, who helped throw furniture off the roof to shatter the CBS eye logo. (I thought this was a little cheesy, considering Colbert’s goal of an amicable separation.)

Friendly rivals Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon agreed to air reruns last night to shift attention to the curtain call at the Ed Sullivan Theatre.

“The Late Show” is being replaced by comedian Byron Allen, who promised to stay away from politics on his pre-recorded show and actually paid CBS millions of dollars for air time.

This brings us to the cold, hard math.

In a split appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host Jimmy Kimmel (left) and former “The Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson (right). (Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty Images; NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

Colbert’s show was losing tens of millions of dollars a year. This is not sustainable. The 11:35 p.m. shows on CBS, ABC and NBC draw a tiny fraction of the audience compared to the days when Johnny Carson had to stay up late to watch both sides’ biting comedy.

Colbert and Kimmel each drew more than 2.5 million viewers last quarter, while Fallon drew 1.3 million; In this environment, that’s not bad at all. But Jay Leno averaged between 5 and 6 million at the peak of his career.

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Now the real impact of these late-night shows comes from the short clips that most people watch the next morning.

Do I think there will be night shows in five years? Unfortunately probably not. The digital age has brought 24-hour competition for eyeballs, from social media to group chats, podcasts to Substack. All available on your phone or watch in seconds.

It makes me nostalgic, but I also don’t listen to AM radio or have a Walkman anymore. Technology continues to advance.

One thing’s for sure: Stephen Colbert will have no trouble making a living.