Paramount and Skydance's merger has been a headline-maker where all things TV news are concerned, and the ramifications of those changes will continue to be felt well beyond the rest of the 2025 TV schedule. Seemingly most affected, at least at the moment, are CBS' late night slots, with The Late Show with Stephen Colbert getting canceled months after After Midnight's fate was sealed. When it comes to pointing fingers of blame, Paramount and CBS’ new boss has a #1 suspect in mind.
Jeff Shell, the multimedia exec who was previously in charge as NBCUniversal’s CEO from 2019 to 2023, was brought in to take over as President of Paramount for David Ellison’s post-merger reign as CEO. Though he wasn’t responsible for the decision to give the axe to The Late Show following its eleventh season, he didn’t exactly argue to keep the talk show around once he did take over.
Speaking with Deadline, Shell seemed to paint a maudlin picture when addressing the future of both late night and primetime, as he’s long been a proponent of shifting the 10:00 p.m. ET hour of primetime away from scripted offerings. Specifically when it comes to pre-sleep talk shows, the Paramount President said he agreed with the decision to cut Stephen Colbert’s show, and claimed the Internet’s biggest media giant was the root cause. In his words:
Late-night has a huge problem right now. . . . The problem is that 80% of the viewership and growing is on YouTube. [YouTube pays] 45 cents on the dollar [so] you can't make it work economically anymore.
Jeff Shell technically isn't making any brand-new observations here, since part of the financial argument for The Late Show's cancellation stemmed from Colbert's highly politicized monologues, segments and guest spots not being as universally popular as stress-free clips of Jimmy Fallon playing goofy games with A-list celebrities.
Indeed, despite the fact that The Late Show regularly beats out The Tonight Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! in both total viewership and demo ratings, Colbert's show has never been a stronger performer when it comes to buzzy clips and viral vids. As such, both of his competitors have been able to reap the monetized rewards of being more popular with audiences who are no longer geared for traditional late-night viewing.
It's entirely possible that for his next non-acting gig after The Late Show, Colbert could release a YouTube-exclusive series that turns him into the biggest digital celebrity on the planet. I mean, that's not likely at all, but if there's anyone who could probably find a way to rub success in the face of former employers, it's a former Daily Show correspondent.
Will CBS Lose Its 10:00 P.M. ET Time Slot?
When he was still running things at NBC, Shell was pushing for the network to switch tactics and pull scripted programming from primetime's third hour, which has increasingly become the most viewer-effected hour, with more and more viewers making the jump to streaming options during that time.
Considering CBS remains the network with the biggest drama audiences overall, even on Friday nights that are generally a graveyard for primetime offerings, it's no surprise that Shell won't be making any dramatic changes at his newest gig. However, he's still absolutely open to those eventual alterations. When asked if it was still a future possibility, Shell said:
Eventually, that could happen, for sure.
Thankfully, though, he confirmed that CBS' current lineup is still locked in place, and that audiences can still look forward to shows like Watson, NCIS: Sydney, The Amazing Race, Elsbeth and the new show Boston Blue will all still be around for the upcoming Fall TV season (and will also be available to stream with a Paramount+ subscription).
