Colbert gets canceled — by CBS, not conservatives

Stephen Colbert has been vaporized, canceled by CBS. Donald Trump is celebrating. Liberal Hollywood is outraged! Regular folks don't care.

Goodnight, everybody!

New ownership at CBS is looming, and Skydance Media evidently doesn’t want a leftist pep rally every night.

But not so fast. This is a fascinating story when you examine the power angle. The once-dominant network television media is completely falling apart. According to the Nielsen folks, fewer than 20% of Americans now watch any network programming. Why? Because it’s largely boring, and traditional Americans resent the liberal culture the networks embrace all day and all night. Woke on parade. Political correctness run amok.

I have a unique vantage point here. Because of my bestselling books and controversial demeanor in general, I have appeared on late-night shows an astonishing 75 times. I know all these guys and the world they inhabit.

Colbert basically committed performance suicide. When he took over for David Letterman 10 years ago, he was coming off the red-hot satire of Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show” and his own “Colbert Report.” Yes, the boys were left-handed pitchers, but they tamped down the malice — at least somewhat. I had a lot of laughs debating Stewart.

Over the past five years, Stephen Colbert has lost more than one million viewers; his numbers descended to just above two million households daily. Profits crashed.

The primary reason for this runaway train is Colbert’s hatred for Trump and the MAGA brigades. Eighty million Americans voted for the president. Few of them can stomach Colbert’s schtick. Ideological zealotry at midnight can be tedious. The all-time king of late night, Johnny Carson, understood that. Old Johnny got his zingers in, but he rarely tried to demean anyone.

All the late-night hosts have talent. It’s impossible to do the job if you don't. Letterman was very quick and edgy. My debates with him are legendary, especially the one where he called me a thug but couldn’t back it up when I challenged him.

On my final appearance with Dave, his audience gave me a standing ovation.

Letterman was cranky but rarely displayed overt hatred. He invited me on 16 times and wrote me a gracious note after every appearance.

Jay Leno was essentially a stand-up comedian, not deeply invested in promoting politics. Same with Jimmy Fallon, although he understands the far-left culture at NBC. Remember the heat Fallon took when he good-naturedly messed up Donald Trump’s hair?

RELATED: Farewell to Stephen Colbert, fake laughs, and lame late-night bias

  Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images

Jimmy Kimmel has drifted into the political swamp mostly because he despises the president. I like Kimmel personally. But he’d be wise to spread the satire around. ABC will be the next place to purge extremists.

My old adversary, Stewart, a brilliant talent, has also succumbed somewhat to strident presentations. Although when I sparred with him last August, the mischievous glimmer was back, at least for a night.

So Stephen Colbert leaves the CBS stage. New ownership is looming, and Skydance Media evidently doesn’t want a leftist pep rally every night. Hollywood will take care of Colbert, so we will see him again.

I bet Donald Trump can’t wait.

Editor’s note: A version of this article appeared originally at billoreilly.com.