David Letterman speaks out on CBS replacing Colbert's show, says network doesn't want to 'spend any money'

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. David Letterman, who formerly hosted "The Late Show" himself for decades, accused CBS of replacing Colbert's iteration of the show with "Comics Unleashed" in order to save money. David Letterman, who hosted "The Late Show" for decades before Stephen Colbert's current iteration, spoke out in a new interview on CBS' decision to replace it, saying the network doesn't want to "spend any money." CBS announced in July that it had canceled Colbert's program and that it would officially go off the air next month. Liberal critics have accused CBS and Paramount of ending the show to appease President Donald Trump and receive approval for a long-planned merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media. The network will lease Colbert's old time slot to Byron Allen's "Comics Unleashed," a comedy talk show. "They don’t want to spend any money, so they’re going t