Media Analyst Takes In-Depth Look at the Numbers That Doomed the Colbert Show

This is probably the last article about Stephen Colbert you will read at the Gateway Pundit for a while because, as you probably know, tonight is his last night on the air. What a shame.

There will be a lot of talk in liberal media circles over the next few weeks about how things could have gone differently. Colbert’s fans in the media are very sad that the show is ending and they’re going to openly complain about it.

One media analyst, Joe Concha of FOX News and the Washington Examiner, took a hard look at the numbers that finally brought down the Colbert show and they’re very telling.

From the Washington Examiner:

200-plus
That’s the number of staffers The Late Show currently employs. Can anyone explain why a program that consists almost entirely of two people talking across a desk needs more than 200 staffers?

22
That’s the number of writers Colbert has to craft his monologues, according to show credits. Most of those monologues are screeds against Trump and/or conservatives right out of the movie Groundhog Day. The days may change, but everything stays the same. Trump. Trump. Trump.

95%
That’s the number of jokes that targeted Trump and/or conservatives after CBS announced in July 2025 that Colbert would be going off the air, according to the Media Research Center.

100%
That’s the percentage of guests who were liberal on Colbert’s show after his cancellation was announced in July 2025, also per the MRC.

1
That’s how many “Republicans” have been invited on. And of course, that was the anti-Trump Liz Cheney, who campaigned with Democrat Kamala Harris leading up to her shellacking in the 2024 election.

15
That’s the number of times that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has appeared as a guest on the show.

0
That’s the number of times that arguably the most popular comedian in the game today, Sebastian Maniscalco, has appeared on Colbert in the past eight years. His last appearance was in 2018, and he has not been invited back since.

0
That’s the number of times Bill Maher has appeared on Colbert in the past decade. Maher is not shy about criticizing his own party. He also met with Trump last year at the White House. That’s a big no-no in Colbert’s world, where speaking to anyone on the other side of the aisle is completely unacceptable.

14
That’s the number of times CNN anchor Jake Tapper has appeared on Colbert. Tapper recently compared Colbert’s fate to that of a murdered priest in an on-air screed on CNN.

Of course, he also mentions the $40 million that the Colbert show lost annually for the network and at the end of the day, this was probably the most important number.

If the Colbert show had been financially successful, the network would have overlooked the leftism Colbert pushed every night.

So long, Mr. Colbert. You will not be missed.

Mike LaChance has been covering higher education and politics for Legal Insurrection since 2012. Since 2008 he has contributed work to the Gateway Pundit, Daily Caller, Breitbart, the Center for Security Policy, the Washington Free Beacon, and Ricochet. He has also written for American Lookout, Townhall, and Twitchy.

You can email Mike LaChance here, and read more of Mike LaChance’s articles here.