CBS is handing its 11:35 p.m. late-night hour to media mogul Byron Allen, sliding his comedy block into the slot the night after Stephen Colbert signs off. The shift kicks in on Friday, May 22, one day after Colbert's final Late Show on May 21, and turns the post-local-news hour into a paid time-buy arrangement that runs through the 2026–2027 TV season.
In its announcement, CBS said it will convert the 11:35 p.m. ET post-local-news slot into a time buy and sell it to Allen. Beginning May 22, Comics Unleashed will air in two back-to-back half-hour episodes each night, and Allen will continue to lease the later hour with Funny You Should Ask. The agreement runs through the 2026–2027 season, according to Reuters.
What Will Air And When
Comics Unleashed, Allen's roundtable stand-up series, will move from its current late slot into the marquee 11:35 p.m. position and play in a one-hour block made up of two half-hour episodes. Funny You Should Ask will then fill the post-midnight window. "I truly appreciate CBS' confidence in me," Allen said in a statement about the expanded block. Those schedule details and Allen's comments were included in the network's announcement and reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Why CBS Is Selling The Hour
CBS is blunt about the math. Handing the hour to an outside producer as a time buy lets the network dodge the hefty costs of a traditional, fully staffed nightly desk show. In its statement, the network said the deal "will take it from financially challenged to profitable." That logic, essentially turning late night into a cleaner line item, was highlighted in the network's announcement and coverage by Reuters, which described the time buy as a way for CBS to stabilize its late-night finances.
What It Means For New York
The move closes a big chapter in Manhattan's late-night story and could ripple through crews, vendors and neighborhood businesses that have long counted on regular tapings at the Ed Sullivan Theater. Earlier reporting flagged that Colbert's planned exit raised alarms about local jobs and the wider economic halo around the show's Midtown operation. That local concern, previously noted as "prompting economic concerns" for New York in earlier Hoodline coverage, still hangs over the network's new strategy.
What To Watch Next
The deal is set for one season, giving CBS the option to rethink the hour later. For now, the network is wagering on low-cost, evergreen comedy that is easy to repurpose and sell. Industry coverage has noted that Allen's format runs on a far leaner staff and trims production overhead, a straightforward bit of economics that effectively removes the network's production burden. Those observations were reported in the Los Angeles Times.
Stephen Colbert's final Late Show airs May 21. Allen's comedy block takes over May 22, and viewers, comedians and New York businesses will be watching closely to see whether CBS' low-frills late-night experiment sticks.
