Viewers accustomed to watching The Late Show With Stephen Colbert at its typical 11:35 pm time slot will be greeted with a different show starting Friday: Comics Unleashed, hosted by Byron Allen. While it is standard for networks to pay a host like Allen, 65, his deal with CBS is a little different. He will be paying the network for Colbert's old time slot through a 16-month-long lease agreement while selling advertising for the show himself.
A Unique Deal with CBS
Comics Unleashed has been running for 20 years, and in September the apolitical comedy panel show started airing in the slot right after Colbert's. CBS executives said the deal to move up Allen's show will provide 'immediate profitability' for the network, which claimed that it canceled The Late Show for financial reasons – though many believe politics came into play. Allen's comedy game show Funny You Should Ask will continue to air after Comics Unleashed.
For Allen, it is just one of many deals he has made as a media executive. He was also recently in the news for acquiring a majority stake in the one-time digital media wunderkind BuzzFeed for what could ultimately be $120 million ($20 million now and then $100 million in five years).
Interview with Byron Allen
Ahead of the launch of the show, Allen spoke about taking over Colbert's time slot and adding BuzzFeed to his stable of media properties, which also includes the Weather Channel and a group of local television networks. This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
On the BuzzFeed Acquisition
Allen said his primary message during the extensive press tour is about building the world's biggest media company. 'I started my company from my dining room table in 1993, 33 years ago, and we built this company with a phone and a dining room table to what it is today, and I'm having a great time.'
Replacing Stephen Colbert
Allen emphasized he is not trying to replace Colbert. 'I don't think anybody can replace Colbert. I think he's phenomenal. This is a show we've been doing for 20 years. And there's nothing like it on TV right now where you have five comedians sitting around with one purpose: making people laugh.' He noted that the show avoids political humor, racism, sexism, antisemitism, and homophobia.
Apolitical Comedy in a Polarized Era
Allen pointed out that political talk shows see repeats down 52% in viewership, while Comics Unleashed repeats are down only 14%. 'People are totally good with not doing political humor. They just want to watch. For me, I don't care who you vote for and I'm not trying to push an agenda.'
Profitability and Cost Efficiency
Allen confirmed the show is profitable. 'CBS spent about $110-120 million on Colbert and about $30-40 million on After Midnight. So they were spending about $160 million. Now, I'm paying them millions of dollars for the time period. So it's a great deal for CBS and a great deal for me.' He believes late-night TV in general is too expensive, noting that many shows are about half a rating point from cancellation.
Cross-Promotion with BuzzFeed
Allen explained that the BuzzFeed acquisition, which includes Tasty and HuffPost, ties into his late-night arrangement through cross-promotion. 'They can promote CBS late night and CBS late night can promote BuzzFeed, HuffPost and Tasty. We also can take the video and go viral.' He added that BuzzFeed will soon offer free streaming of over 30,000 movies, TV shows, and documentaries.
Future of BuzzFeed and HuffPost
Regarding staffing, Allen said, 'You don't need more, because of AI.' Jonah Peretti will stay on as president of AI and run innovation. Allen praised HuffPost's journalism, saying, 'I told HuffPost, Go after the Washington Post. Chase them down like a lion chases down a gazelle. Be bold, fierce, strong.' He plans to deploy more resources there to achieve the highest level of journalism.
