All It Took for Great Stephen Colbert Ratings Was Cancellation

Friends and enemies of Stephen Colbert agree — even though his Late Show numbers were tops among the traditional late-night programs, they just weren’t good enough. Donald Trump, who measures most situations in terms of ratings, responded to the host’s firing with this jab: “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.” Colbert’s pal Samantha Bee thought the decision was “awful” but inevitable: “It definitely was hemorrhaging money.”

“Hemorrhaging money” has been the CBS spin all along. The decision to cancel Colbert wasn’t due to Paramount Global’s desire to push its $8 billion sale through the FCC — sure, Jan — but because it claimed Late Show and its mediocre ratings were losing $40 million a year. 

If CBS wanted better numbers, it should have canned Colbert years ago. In the wake of the controversial firing, ratings for The Late Show have soared to record highs.  According to LateNighter, Colbert’s first full week of post-cancellation shows earned an average weekly share of 12.63 percent among total viewers.

That’s a lot of eyeballs. In fact, it’s the highest weekly share for Colbert dating back to the start of his run in 2015, when a lot more people were tuning in to late-night talk shows. In raw numbers, more than three million people watched each night, more than Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel’s fill-in hosts combined. In the 18-49 demo, the group advertisers covet most, Colbert’s numbers were up 64 percent. 

Big deal, Greg Gutfeld is probably saying. His Gutfeld! was watched by 3.25 million viewers over that same time period, although his show airs 90 minutes earlier without competition from Kimmel and Fallon. 

None of the numbers matter, of course. CBS will reap the benefits of The Late Show’s ratings bump, while Colbert will still be out of a job come May. It’s also unlikely that the show can continue this hot streak once curious viewers are past the shock of CBS’ decision.  

The one thing that might keep people watching is the “What does Colbert have to lose?” factor. The host’s jokes about Trump were already vicious, but do Colbert and his writers have an extra gear? The smart money says Colbert doesn’t make it to May — with job security no longer a consideration, why wouldn’t he try to go out in a blaze of glory? This is the guy who stuck it to George W. Bush at a White House Correspondents’ Dinner while the sitting president was actually in the room. Courage won’t be an issue. 

A “Burn it all down!” mentality might be the one thing that keeps those ratings up. Is tonight the night Colbert goes over the line? Tune in and find out.