{"id":14766,"date":"2026-04-07T14:38:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/14766\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T14:38:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:38:13","slug":"byron-allens-comics-unleashed-will-replace-cbs-host-stephen-colbert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/14766\/","title":{"rendered":"Byron Allen’s ‘Comics Unleashed’ will replace CBS host Stephen Colbert"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CBS is outsourcing its late night hours to media mogul Byron Allen in a move aimed at reducing programming costs.<\/p>\n

The Paramount-owned network announced Monday that Allen\u2019s programs \u201cComics Unleashed\u201d and \u201cFunny You Should Ask\u201d will take over the 11:35 p.m. and 12:35 a.m. time slots after \u201cThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert\u201d ends its 11-year run on May 21.<\/a> Colbert succeeded David Letterman, the original host of \u201cThe Late Show,\u201d which launched in 1993 and became the first successful late-night show in CBS history.<\/p>\n

\u201cComics Unleashed,\u201d a talk show featuring Allen and four comedians who draw from their stand-up routines, has been airing in the 12:35 a.m. hour since June, when \u201cAfter Midnight With Taylor Tomlinson\u201d ended its CBS run. The show will get the earlier hour starting May 22.<\/p>\n

\u201cFunny You Should Ask,\u201d hosted by Jon Kelley, features comics in a quiz show format. The program has been running in syndication since 2017. Allen appears as a panelist.<\/p>\n

Carrying Allen\u2019s shows will provide a major savings for CBS. Allen pays CBS for the hours and covers the full production costs of his programs. In return, his company gets most of the commercial units in the programs, which his company can sell. <\/p>\n

In an interview with The Times in August, Allen explained the economics of his programs for CBS. \u201cIt\u2019s not cheaper,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s zero.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allen\u2019s shows are significantly less expensive to produce than the traditional sofa-and-desk format for a major TV network, which have traditionally used high-priced hosts, live bands and substantial writing staffs. <\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

The host of \u201cThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert\u201d on Nov. 16, 2023. (<\/p>\n

(Scott Kowalchyk \/ CBS \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

On \u201cComics Unleashed,\u201d the guests bring their own material. Many stand-up comics say the show provides significant exposure and can boost a career.<\/p>\n

Allen, a stand-up comic before he became a program producer and the owner of a TV station group and the Weather Channel<\/a>, said he still writes some of the jokes for his programs.<\/p>\n

Allen\u2019s shows are designed to be evergreens with few topical gags so they can be repeated. Some of the \u201cComics Unleashed\u201d episodes that have aired on CBS are more than 10 years old.<\/p>\n

CBS canceled \u201cThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert\u201d in July, citing the program\u2019s high costs and declining ratings, which has hit all of late-night TV as streaming has largely displaced appointment viewing of entertainment shows.<\/p>\n

Colbert was also a target of President Trump, who frequently groused on social media about the harsh treatment he gets from late-night hosts. Many industry observers speculated that Colbert\u2019s show was killed to placate Trump administration regulators when Paramount was being acquired by Skydance Media.<\/p>\n

CBS executives insisted the cancellation was based on economics. Colbert stayed on the air for the final year of his contract and remained critical of Trump and Paramount management.<\/p>\n

Allen\u2019s programs are unlikely to upset Trump as they tend to avoid political humor, which can date quickly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CBS is outsourcing its late night hours to media mogul Byron Allen in a move aimed at reducing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14767,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[9602,4095,9703,5153,9707,9705,8,9706,9704,9708,9,296,542,6118,1740,369,7,1349],"class_list":{"0":"post-14766","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"tag-byron-allen","9":"tag-cbs","10":"tag-comic_strip","11":"tag-company","12":"tag-early-hour","13":"tag-economic","14":"tag-headlines","15":"tag-late-night-hour","16":"tag-late-show","17":"tag-live-band","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-paramount","20":"tag-president-trump","21":"tag-program","22":"tag-show","23":"tag-stephen-colbert","24":"tag-top-stories","25":"tag-year"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@news\/116363939269368521","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}