CBS announced on Monday that Byron Allen has bought The Late Show with Stephen Colbert time slot. Allen will begin airing his show next month.
Byron Allen is a comedian-turned-film and television producer whose company, Allen Media Group, owns stakes in The Weather Channel, Bally Sports, Starz, and multiple broadcast television stations.
Since 2006, Allen has hosted and produced the syndicated comedy panel show Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen. The show has been airing on CBS in the 12:35 a.m. late night slot under a time buy arrangement in which Allen’s company bought airtime from CBS.
On May 22, he will be moving back-to-back episodes of Comics Unleashed into the slot currently airing The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Allen will also continue to lease the time slot after The Late Show and will be running his comedy game show, Funny You Should Ask, according to Variety.
“I created and launched Comics Unleashed 20 years ago so my fellow comedians could have a platform to do what we all love – make people laugh,” said Allen in a statement. “I truly appreciate CBS’ confidence in me by picking up our two-hour comedy block of Comics Unleashed and Funny You Should Ask, because the world can never have enough laughter.”
The Late Show will air its final show on May 21. May 22 will mark the first time since 1993 that CBS has not aired The Late Show in that time slot.
Fans react to news of Byron Allen taking over ‘The Late Show’ time slot
Considering the political controversy surrounding the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, reactions to Bryon Allen taking over the time slot have been very mixed on social media.
One common reaction goes along the lines of: “‘I created and launched Comics Unleashed 20 years ago.’ Never heard of it.”
“CBS bottoming w/ paid infotainment blocks from the 90’s,” read another negative comment.
“Not gonna lie, I had to look up who Byron Allen was when this was announced,” someone else wrote, echoing many others.
On the flip side, there were several comments similar to the following: “Byron Allen didn’t wait for CBS to give him late night. He built a $4.5B media empire until they had to come to HIM. That’s not representation. That’s ownership.”
“Shout out to Byron Allen, continuing to build out his media empire. That said, this could be a blessing or a curse,” read a similar assessment of the change.