David Letterman Criticizes CBS Decision to End ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,’ Citing Network Cost-Cutting

David Letterman, the legendary late-night television host who occupied the CBS late-night desk for over two decades, has publicly criticized his former network’s decision to end “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” asserting that CBS simply does not want to “spend any money.” The remarks from the 78-year-old broadcasting icon add a high-profile voice to growing concerns about the future of traditional late-night television as legacy networks face mounting financial pressures and shifting audience habits.

Letterman’s pointed criticism carries particular weight given his deep personal history with the CBS late-night brand. After being passed over for “The Tonight Show” hosting job in favor of Jay Leno in 1992 — one of the most infamous succession battles in television history — Letterman moved from NBC to CBS, where he launched his version of “Late Show” from the historic Ed Sullivan Theater on Broadway. Over 22 seasons, Letterman established himself as one of the most influential figures in television history, winning multiple Emmy Awards and drawing audiences that regularly competed with Leno’s “Tonight Show.” When he retired in May 2015, his final episode drew nearly 14 million viewers, and CBS tapped Colbert — the sharp-witted host of Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” — to continue the tradition. For Letterman to now speak publicly against CBS’s stewardship of the franchise he helped build signals a deep frustration with the network’s strategic direction.

The economics of late-night television have shifted dramatically in recent years. Traditional late-night shows, which once served as reliable profit centers for broadcast networks due to their relatively low production costs compared to scripted programming, have seen their financial equation change substantially. Advertising revenue has declined as linear television audiences shrink, with younger demographics increasingly consuming short-form content on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and social media — ironically, the very platforms where late-night clips often go viral. Colbert’s show, while maintaining competitive ratings, reportedly carried significant production costs including host salary, a full writing staff, a house band led by Jon Batiste and later Stay Human, and the overhead of operating out of the Ed Sullivan Theater in midtown Manhattan. Across the industry, the late-night landscape has been contracting: NBC ended “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and has restructured its own late-night programming, while other networks have similarly scaled back. The 2023 Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes further disrupted late-night production schedules and exposed the financial vulnerabilities of the format.

Letterman’s comments also raise broader questions about the role of legacy broadcast networks in the current media environment. CBS, once one of the dominant forces in American television — known for decades as the “Tiffany Network” for its prestige programming — has increasingly been forced to make difficult financial decisions as cord-cutting accelerates and streaming platforms absorb audience attention. The network’s decision to end such a prominent franchise suggests that even high-profile, culturally significant programming is not immune to the bottom-line calculus driving modern media companies. What CBS plans to do with the 11:35 p.m. time slot remains a critical question — whether it will attempt a cheaper alternative format, turn to reruns, or experiment with something entirely new could signal the direction of broadcast television more broadly. For now, Letterman’s rebuke serves as a stark reminder of how far the economics of television have shifted from the era when late-night was considered appointment viewing for millions of Americans.