CBS is officially exiting the original late-night programming business, announcing Monday that it has leased the time slots formerly held by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group.
The deal is structured as a "time buy." Instead of licensing or producing shows for the time period, CBS is renting the two hours to Allen Media for what Allen described to Entertainment Tonight as "tens of millions of dollars." Allen's company will keep the commercial time and sell it directly to advertisers to recoup the investment.
CBS announced the cancellation of The Late Show last July, stating the franchise—which originated when the network poached David Letterman in 1993—was losing tens of millions of dollars.
While the new lease arrangement guarantees CBS a financial return for the late-night block, it remains unclear how or if local CBS affiliates will benefit from the shift away from network-supplied programming.
While the new lease arrangement guarantees CBS a financial return for the late-night block, it remains unclear how or if local CBS affiliates will benefit from the shift away from network-supplied programming.