The partnership between Allen and CBS has “immediate profitability,” notes George Cheeks, Paramount’s Chair of TV Media.

CBS exploring ‘other ideas’ for Stephen Colbert’s vacated time slot after Byron Allen’s deal expires

The partnership between Allen and CBS has "immediate profitability," notes George Cheeks, Paramount’s Chair of TV Media.

By Kathleen Perricone

April 15, 2026 7:04 p.m. ET

Stephen Colbert in 2023; Byron Allen in 2025. Credit:

Michael Loccisano/Getty; Frazer Harrison/Getty

- "We are still going to develop other ideas" for the 11:35 p.m. time slot, Paramount Chair of TV Media George Cheeks said on Wednesday.

- *Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen* will officially replace *The Late Show With Stephen Colbert* on May 22.

- The deal between CBS and Allen "made a lot of sense for us right now," Cheeks explained.

Byron Allen may want to keep his comics on a short leash.

A week after announcing *Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen* would replace *The Late Show With Stephen Colbert** *beginning on May 22, the network has hinted it might be a temporary gig.

“We landed on it for a couple reasons,” said Paramount Chair of TV Media George Cheeks, who oversees CBS, at a press conference on Wednesday. “We are still going to develop other ideas, other concepts” for the 11:35 p.m. time slot after Allen’s deal expires.

'Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen' premiered in 2006.

As Cheeks explained, leasing the late-night hour to Allen (who will earn revenue by selling advertising spots during *Comics Unleashed*) has “immediate profitability” for CBS and “made a lot of sense for us right now.”

That sentiment echoes recent comments by David Letterman, the original host of *The Late Show*.

“They don’t want to spend any money, so they’re going to make money," he said on the April 10 episode of *The Barbara Gaines Show*. “They charge Byron Allen some reasonable price. He sells all the advertising for his *Comics Unleashed*, and it’ll be, I think, 90 minutes or two hours of comics talking about funny stuff.”

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*Comics Unleashed* will be immediately followed by another of Allen’s programs, the syndicated game show *Funny You Should Ask*, which has been airing on CBS since last summer.

“Byron’s been a great partner to us at 12:30, so we feel confident he will continue to be a great partner for us at 11:30, as well,” Cheeks said on Wednesday. “We will continue to develop.”

When CBS announced the end of *The Late Show* after three decades, the network acknowledged, “This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”

'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' ran for 11 seasons.

Scott Kowalchyk/CBS

But the sun has not officially set on late-night television.

“I believe in late-night,” insisted Cheeks, who previously oversaw primetime and late-night programming at NBC. “I think the reality is that the reach is still there, but the reach is there primarily on YouTube, which is undermonetized. So, if we’re going to go back into that space, we have to go back into that space with a different financial model.”

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For now, Allen is looking forward to making the most of his time on the network’s late-night block.

"I created and launched *Comics Unleashed* 20 years ago so my fellow comedians could have a platform to do what we all love — make people laugh," he said in a statement when the show was announced as Colbert’s replacement. "I truly appreciate CBS' confidence in me by picking up our two-hour comedy block of *Comics Unleashed* and *Funny You Should Ask*, because the world can never have enough laughter."

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Talk”