CBS isn’t worried about Stephen Colbert’s Late Show ratings

By William Hughes | January 12, 2016 | 11:16pm

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Despite the lurking conventional wisdom that suggests American audiences would rather tune in to giggle-filled parlor games than thoughtfully curated political satire, CBS is apparently perfectly happy with Stephen Colbert’s performance as the host of its flagship late-night talk show. That’s coming from a brief interview with network president Glenn Geller, responding to questions about The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’s relatively lackluster social media engagement at the TCA Press Tour earlier today. (Colbert’s Facebook page has less than a quarter of the followers as Jimmy Kimmel’s, while the The Late Show’s YouTube channel clocks in at about a tenth of the subscribers as the ABC host. Jimmy Fallon, meanwhile, trumps them both, perched atop his bloodied throne of genial harmlessness and Celebrity Truth Or Dare.)

Geller, though, is apparently unperturbed both by the social media metrics and Colbert’s consistently lower ratings. “We want Stephen to be Stephen, and that’s exactly what he’s doing,” he told reporters. “There’s plenty of room in late night… and he delivers top notch quality.” Geller then got on with his busy press tour rounds, instead of sighing, whispering, “This is why we can’t have nice things,” and taking the day off, which is what many would have done in his position.