I can’t say I’m thrilled that the days of Stephen Colbert on CBS are now at an end. Like more than six million other linear viewers in near-real time did late Thursday night and Friday morning, I watched his last LATE SHOW probably in a more forgiving way than so many others did. In direct contrast to a disproportionate number of folks on my social media timelines, I actually thought the choice of having Paul McCartney make perhaps one final appearance on the same Ed Sullivan Theatre stage where he first performed more than sixty years ago was downright brilliant and paid appropriate homage to the venue itself in the process. And yeah, I got a lump in my throat when the last moments depicted it as part of a music box snowglobe–it worked on me just as much as it did in the big reveal in the final episode of ST. ELSEWHERE. Another well-liked show that eventually succumbed for the same reasons that Colbert’s did. High costs and low ratings.
And the fact that so many otherwise intelligent people–including a surprising amount of so-called media experts–cannot accept those realities has turned my otherwise understanding approach into absolute disdain, particularly when they choose to place blame and/or judgment on Byron Allen for being somehow complicit in what they see to be a dereliction of duty and thus contributing to the further decline of democracy. How dare a “syndicated” show desecrate the once-hallowed grounds of late night network TV and, most of all, the nightly catharsis so many desperately seek as they had found no other way to cope with their abject hatred of the schmuck-in-chief but to communally migrate at 11:35 pm ET to watch a talk show host echo and, in their minds, amplify them.
I’ve been a defender of Byron Allen’s before, as regular readers might recall. When he attempted to buy the NFL’s Denver Broncos and was being mocked mercilessly by alleged experts I rose to his defense, citing my own personal experience with the man as reason enough to at least take him seriously. That didn’t work out as well as he might have hoped. But he’s more than moved on from that setback and has now reemerged as a headline-maker in the wake of his commandeering of Colbert’s time period–a de facto upgrade from the lead-out hour his COMICS UNLEASHED had occupied for the past year in the wake of Taylor Tomlinson’s decision to move on from AT MIDNIGHT. That show was in itself a last ditch attempt to find a more cost-effective way to program 12:37 am than did its own predecessor, THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH JAMES CORDEN. The math didn’t math any better.
Even before the Ellisons took control of CBS the concept of actually trying to not lose money in a daypart that has been in inexorable decline for years for far more organic and methodological reasons was driving business decisions for his own predecessors. You know who knows that way better than most? Byron Allen and his team. They had been supplying COMICS UNLEASHED, FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK and a suite of courtroom shows to stations all over the country–the CBS owned-and-operated stations being the most prominent but hardly the only ones. His Entertainment Studios and Allen Media Group sales forces were privy to the actual data that folks were looking at, if for no other reason that they were among the few distribution entities that were still offering shows of any kind to local stations. Unlike, say, the parochial patriarchs of Comcast and Paramount that chose to claw back and warehouse otherwise viable programs exclusively for their streaming platforms. That math ain’t exactly mathing, either.
So when Allen gave his version of how he became the “new” face of late night TV, which the likes of ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY’s Emlyn Travis co-opted on Thursday, I for one can vouch for its veracity:
Byron Allen has pulled back the curtain on the very blunt pitch he made to CBS to get Comics Unleashed in The Late Show‘s soon-to-be-vacant time slot…”When Colbert got unexpectedly canceled, I said, ‘Okay, do you like money?’ They said, ‘Yes,'” Allen told NBC News of his pitch to CBS. “I’ll buy the time period and you can save over $110 million.”…Allen has revealed that he plans to lease the time slot from the network and sell its ad revenue himself. “I’m putting a lot of money in their cash register,” he said. “I am a gift from the money gods. And the comedy gods.”
And Allen also knows how to cost-effectively produce content way better than anyone at CBS apparently ever did. I’ve attended recent tapings of COMICS UNLEASHED. Allen floor directs while simultaneously steering four stand-up comedians through their routines while seated in a talk show-like setting, at times superseding his crew when he notices flubs that they don’t. “Tape” still rolls, he uses the “applause, applause, applause” gimmick as a bookmark for future editing and multiple half-hour episodes get produced in a single tape day. Wanna ask anyone who was involved in the day-and-date productions of Colbert, Corden or At Midnight if similar efficiencies and work-arounds were employed? Didn’t think so.
Allen produces his entire output in a single facility he purchased years ago, one that sits comfortably within the Los Angeles city limits (technically, Culver City). He no longer brings in audiences for FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK, but since the pandemic that’s also true of other game shows that learned to live without one, and realized substantial cost savings in the process. Being a comedian who believes in the power of live feedback, he does utilize one for CU–and he even pays them for their trouble. Eventually. But yes, my 2025 tax form includes a statement from his affiliated company.
So when he approaches CBS with a better mousetrap he does so from an informed perspective. And if they want to cut their losses by buying into it that’s as much of a sound business decision than anything one might accuse any political influence of creating.
Which is why I get particularly incensed when I see drivel from the likes of THE MIRROR U.S’ Jorge Solis that was dropped during the Colbert finale actually getting traction and amplification:
CBS delivered a brutal parting shot aimed at late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert…During a commercial break, the network aired a promo for the show’s replacement. This comes as Colbert broke away from tradition as he kicked off the show with an emotional final monologue... In the commercial break, viewers were reminded that Byron Allen’s Comics Unleashed is moving into the 11:35 pm time slot on May 22. In the montage of clips, Allen, 65, appeared while wearing a velvet tuxedo jacket. He flashed a big grin at the camera. The entire promo had an incessant laugh track playing on a loop. In the closing seconds, the premiere date and time were announced in big bold letters.
Oh, FFS, Jorge. That’s called promotion. I suspect you’ve never actually worked at a network. Maybe you missed the spots for CUPERTINO that have been airing since the network announced its fall premiere in April that have been airing all over the schedule–including within COLBERT–ever since? Got a problem with THAT too?
Not that Byron needs any further defense, but allow me to offer a few more.
Unlike so many of his fellow media moguls, he isn’t fully abandoning failed sectors. In addition to his continuing syndication business, he continues to support cable and FAST at times when larger media companies are folding entire networks. And this week we learned he’s throwing a lifeline toward an otherwise assumed dead internet brand, which his nameless GRIO staff dutifully reported on:
Byron Allen visited the offices of BuzzFeed and HuffPost on Monday, May 19, where he addressed employees and outlined his vision for the company following his recent acquisition…During the meeting, and with theGrio present, Allen emphasized editorial independence, truth-telling and the significance of Black ownership in media, while assuring staff he does not intend to change the existing culture at either outlet… “I want the HuffPost, I want you to be yourself,” Allen told employees. “I want you to be loud and proud. Say whatever the hell you want to say. Say it. Say it loud and proud.” Allen encouraged journalists to aggressively report on issues they view as unjust or harmful.
Wanna ask anyone still around the Washington Post or Los Angeles Times–or CBS News–how similar meetings in recent times went down? Didn’t think so this time, either. Odds are you might not be able to find all that many.
And to that end, allow me to present one Joan A. Robbins to you. This is how she explained why she for one is happy Allen’s in for Colbert on her own social media channels:
32 years ago Byron hired me on August 4th..I was his first employee..me Byron, his incredible Mom Carolyn Folks and one TV Show called Entertainers With Byron Allen. First guest…Whoopi Goldberg…my how things have changed! What does remain the same is Byron, Carolyn and I are still working side by side to this day! Tonight he fulfills a dream…34 years ago today I attended the final Johnny Carson Show….tonight my boss of 32 years begins to air his show Comics Unleashed on CBS at 11:35.
Byron himself reminded his followers the motivation for wanting to take over Colbert’s slot on a Friday night of an otherwise forgettable Memorial Day weekend was homage to said anniversary–to the end of the show that featured him as the youngest stand-up performer in its history while he was still attending classes at U.C.L.A. Years after he first got paid to write jokes for then hot commodity Jimmie Walker–who now keeps his SAG pension active with occasional appearances on FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK. Unlike other billionaires one might obsess over, Byron actually earned his success with hard work and atypical tenacity.
Seasoned professionals like Walker, Robbins and a host of others–many of whom get referenced in credit rolls that other shows have long eschewed–are still earning paychecks that do get cashed and are very much needed. Are they the biggest they’ve ever gotten? Hardly. But they are the most recent. And it’s still a lot more than more prominent employers are willing to do for far too many of those they cast to the side–and are therefore a lot more grateful when someone like Allen comes along with anything resembling a decent opportunity.
Wanna ask anyone at Colbert how they’ve been treated lately? Mmm hmm. Same answer as before I reckon.
Look, I know it’s far easier and certainly more politically acceptable to knee-jerk one’s way into taking the fat f-ck at his word when he takes a 1:52 am victory lap that somehow conflates Colbert with Alfredo Garcia. It would be naive to not think there is at least something to that effect rummaging around at least one of the Ellisons’ brains. But actual experience and knowledge makes me all the more certain that at least what Allen and I have described is equally, if not far more, true.
And finally, at the risk of redundancy, enough already with “BOYCOTT CBS!!!” as your default saber-rattling. One person’s choice is not a boycott, it’s a personal decision. CBS won’t suffer; Byron’s deal makes that a moot point. And boycotting Byron won’t mean a hill of beans either; his business model makes individual program viewership a secondary consideration at most. That’s a model he’s borrowed from syndication and digital. You didn’t have a problem with those sorts of entities doing it. So don’t think you’re forced to start now–or if you will even matter if you do. You shouldn’t–and you don’t.
You may not have figured this all out, but Byron Allen has. And that’s why he’s better than you and a lot of others you already conceded that reality to. If you disagree, please don’t make me laugh. That’s his domain.
Until next time…