CBS is already thinking about what could replace Byron Allen

TV chair George Cheeks maintains that the network is not giving up on late night, but Allen's money was hard to ignore.

By Drew Gillis  |  April 15, 2026 | 4:30pm
Image courtesy of Paramount
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CBS is already thinking about what could replace Byron Allen

The post-Colbert future is growing closer every day, but CBS doesn’t know if it’s ready to be completely post-late night. Last week, the network confirmed that it would fill The Late Show With Stephen Colbert‘s time slot with Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen, a decidedly less political program that would provide CBS with a quick flush of cash. The “immediate profitability” of Allen’s time-buy model “made a lot of sense for us right now,” said Paramount’s TV chair George Cheeks at a press conference today, per The Hollywood Reporter. But that quick money doesn’t mean that CBS is going to stick with Allen past his year-long contract. 

According to Cheeks, the network isn’t ready to give up on late night, just the purportedly-unprofitable model of The Late Show. “I started in late night. I grew up in late night,” said Cheeks. “I believe in late night. I think the reality is that the reach is still there, but the reach is there primarily on YouTube, which is under monetized. So if we’re going to go back in that space, we have to go back in that space with a different financial model.” Cheeks and others at the network have been “developing other ideas,” though CBS Entertainment president Amy Reisenbach quickly clarified that what might come after Allen’s contract are “just conversations at this point.” Surely, there must be a way to make television profitable!

 
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