6 Takes on Colbert News, Including Kimmel's

The surprise news that CBS is pulling the plug on Stephen Colbert's late show next year has prompted much chatter about the network's motives. CBS insists it was purely a "financial decision," but skeptics see politics at play. (Parent company Paramount recently settled a lawsuit brought by President Trump as it sought federal approval for a merger.) A few takes in reaction to Monday's announcement:

• Two senators: A pair of Democratic senators demand to know if politics was a factor given Colbert's frequent roasting of Trump, reports Fox News. "America deserves to know," wrote Elizabeth Warren, who, like Colbert previously, likened the aforementioned settlement to bribery. Adam Schiff tweeted a similar message.

• Tough economics: No matter the politics involved, Variety notes that the cancellation comes as the economic troubles of late night grow worse, "with media companies growing wary of the high price tags involved in producing the shows while the young viewers they try to attract watch more of them via digital video." The story notes that CBS also recently canceled the companion show After Midnight. All in all, "it's no secret among staffers and executives associated with late night that the business of the format has been in decline," writes Brian Steinberg.
• Back to politics: In the Atlantic, however, David A. Graham finds the timing a little too fishy. The "network that once made (Walter) Cronkite the most trusted man in America no longer gets the benefit of the doubt," he writes. "CBS's owners have made a series of decisions capitulating to President Donald Trump, and the surprise choice to allow Colbert—a consistent, prominent Trump critic—to walk seems like part of that pattern."

• An irony: Given that Colbert's show has the highest ratings of his peers, the announcement is indeed "shocking," writes Lili Loofbourow at the Washington Post. But she also sees an "irony" at play: Yes, Colbert routinely went after Trump, but compared to his previous show, The Colbert Report, the late-night slams have been "bland, not to say toothless," she writes. It's been "bog-standard anti-Trump stuff, perfectly well-written but not comedically distinct. That's been a little odd for those who know him as a topsy-turvy genius who used to specialize in unexpected angles of attack."
• Good riddance: Many on the right were happy with the news. "Colbert has not been funny in years," writes Mike LaChance at Gateway Pundit. "He took a show that used to be produced for the enjoyment of the whole country and used it as a vehicle for his personal and pathological hatred of Trump."
• Kimmel: Fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel had a succinct reaction. "Love you Stephen," he wrote on Instagram. "F--- you and all your Sheldons CBS."