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Robert Reich: Farewell and Thank You, Stephen Colbert
Link: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/farewell-and-thank-you-stephen-colbert
Stephen Colbert’s last show is this Thursday evening. CBS refused to renew his contract, and you know exactly why: He mocked and criticized Trump.
CBS says it’s ending “The Late Show” because the show was costing CBS some $40 million a year. That’s utter bullsh*t. Colbert allowed CBS to charge higher fees to local affiliates, because it attracted millions of viewers to those affiliates’ 11 p.m. news programs in anticipation of “The Late Show” airing right after. The show was also a promotional gold mine for CBS, whose series stars were often interviewed by Colbert. No wonder CBS was “feverish” to lock Colbert into a new contract only three years ago.
What really happened couldn’t be clearer. Führer Trump was furious at Colbert’s mocking and publicly called for CBS to cancel him (or “put him to sleep NOW” as Trump wrote in one social media post). At the same time, CBS’s parent company, Paramount, was on the verge of a lucrative merger deal that Trump could interfere with.
Paramount had already sucked up to Trump by offering him $16 million to settle a lawsuit he brought against CBS News’s “60 Minutes,” although he had almost no chance of prevailing in court.
In a monologue, Colbert called the settlement a “big fat bribe,” which it was. Days later he got word he’d been canceled. About a week after that, the deal was approved.
- more at link -
CBS says it’s ending “The Late Show” because the show was costing CBS some $40 million a year. That’s utter bullsh*t. Colbert allowed CBS to charge higher fees to local affiliates, because it attracted millions of viewers to those affiliates’ 11 p.m. news programs in anticipation of “The Late Show” airing right after. The show was also a promotional gold mine for CBS, whose series stars were often interviewed by Colbert. No wonder CBS was “feverish” to lock Colbert into a new contract only three years ago.
What really happened couldn’t be clearer. Führer Trump was furious at Colbert’s mocking and publicly called for CBS to cancel him (or “put him to sleep NOW” as Trump wrote in one social media post). At the same time, CBS’s parent company, Paramount, was on the verge of a lucrative merger deal that Trump could interfere with.
Paramount had already sucked up to Trump by offering him $16 million to settle a lawsuit he brought against CBS News’s “60 Minutes,” although he had almost no chance of prevailing in court.
In a monologue, Colbert called the settlement a “big fat bribe,” which it was. Days later he got word he’d been canceled. About a week after that, the deal was approved.
Thank you Robert Reich for telling the truth about this loss to all of us. I doubt that I'll ever flip my channel to CBS ever again.
I know ... all good things must end some day ... but it rankles me and many Dems that Chump gets a win on this. Colbert has many more viewers every night than Chump will ever have. Please read the rest on Robert Reich's substack.
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