Friday marks one year since CBS canceled ‘The Late Show’

(CBS, KYMA) - On July 17, 2025, Stephen Colbert announced on CBS's "The Late Show" the network would be ending the program's franchise, which Colbert had hosted for 11 seasons.

The show first premiered in August 1993 when David Letterman had been passed over for NBC's "Tonight Show." Letterman hosted the show until his retirement in 2015, when Colbert took over.

The final episode of "The Late Show" aired in May of this year.

"We call it the joy machine, because to do this many shows, it has to be a machine. But the thing is, if you choose to do it with joy, it doesn't hurt as much when your fingers get caught in the gears," Colbert said. "And I cannot adequately explain to you what the people who work here have done for each other and how much we mean to each other."

In total, the show, which was taped at the Ed Sullivan Theater in midtown Manhattan, ran for 33 years at CBS.