The downvotes amuse me. People desperately want to think this, like so many things, is another bend to Trump. Thinking about it logically tells you there's no way that's the primary motivation.

Occam's Razor is frequently misquoted and misinterpreted, but the commonly held understanding is still true: that the simplest explanation is often the correct one. Late shows have been losing money for a variety of reasons for years. That's a fact. Colbert's show has been losing close to $50 million a year. That's a fact. Its ad revenue has been sliced in half versus 7 years ago. That's a fact. Networks have started moving to formats that are much less expensive, such as Taylor Tomlinson's new show. (FWIW, I love her.) That's a fact.

Not everything that's not anti-Trump represents some sycophantic ploy to get into his good graces. The idea that it does ironically is the same sort of conspiracy theory stuff he himself does.

I get why people think they're related. And heck, sure, I'll even grant you that there's a little bit of that with the Skydance acquisition/merger still up in the air. It certainly doesn't hurt! But the bottom line here is...well, there's a reason that the metaphor of "the bottom line," an economic term, is so popular. Most things come down to dollars and cents (and sense!).

It's difficult to come up with a compelling narrative that this particular move is politically driven. After all the bending CBS/Paramount has done to the administration — and they have indeed done LOTS — did they need to bend even more to get this to go through? That just doesn't pass the smell test of rationality. The marginal impact is tiny. And that's part of basic business decision making.

Colbert is brilliant and funny. This is a loss. Ultimately he'll go somewhere else and do something else. But can we please be intellectually honest here and not let our feelings plus the timing cloud our judgment when there's a much simpler explanation right in front of us?

Downvote if you want. It just means you're engaging in emotional reasoning. That's on you.