Stephen Colbert could leave The Late Show this year

The Tonight Show was often seen as the greatest gig in late night for decades. Nowadays, after an impressive and ongoing eight-year run on CBS, Stephen Colbert has marked The Late Show as the highest-rated in the television category. Colbert took on the seemingly impossible after replacing television legend, David Letterman back in 2015.

Whilst Colbert continues to draw in a sizeable number to his popular NY-based late-night show, the host has made no indication that he will extend his contract. Back in 2019, Stephen signed a fresh three-year deal with CBS, choosing to stay on until the summer of 2023.

Unless Colbert announces an extension in the months to come, we could very well expect the late-night host to call it quits this year. In recent years, late-night hosts have proven to be less likely to follow suit of their predecessors, who often spent far longer behind the desk.

David Letterman famously hosted late-night television for over 33 years before making a surprise move to Netflix in 2017.

Could Stephen Colbert move to streaming?

If Colbert does decide to call it quits this summer, the comedian could make a similar move to Letterman and choose to continue a similar talk show role on the various streaming platforms now growing in popularity.

We’ve all seen the great success Jon Stewart has enjoyed since joining Apple+ back in 2021. The political satirist now hosts a far more politically involved program since his exit from Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.

There’s no doubt for Colbert that CBS will be keen for him to move on. The Late Show host remains one of late night’s most popular figures, only occasionally beaten in the ratings by Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld.

Back in 2019, it was revealed that CBS came to Colbert and directly asked him to continue his famed role at The Ed Sullivan Theatre.

There’s always the chance the network will want to play it safe and make a similar proposal again.