Paramount TV Media chairman George Cheeks says late night is still a work in progress at the network. The Eye did a one-year deal with Byron Allen to air his “Comics Unleashed” at 11:35 p.m. as a time buy, allowing the network “to go into immediate profitability in that in that slot,” which he said “made a lot of sense for us right now. Byron’s been a great partner to us at 1230 so we feel confident he’ll continue to be a great partner for us at 11:30 as well.”
But long term, Cheeks confirmed that the network is still looking to potentially develop other programs for the time slot. “We are still going to develop other ideas, other concepts,” he told reporters Wednesday during CBS’ fall schedule announcement press conference. “I grew up in late night. I believe in late night. I think the reality is that the reach is still there, but the reach is there primarily on YouTube, which is under monetized. So if we’re going to go back into that space, we have to go back into that space with a different financial model. We’re developing other ideas.”
CBS Entertainment president Amy Reisenbach said the ideas are in “all areas. We’re not an active development anything. They’re just conversations at this point. But it has to be a model that makes sense for us financially, and that is not a talk show. Again, we have nothing too soon to say specific about it.”
As “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” ends its run next month, CBS sold its 11:35 p.m. ET post-local news timeslot to Byron Allen, who will spend tens of millions of dollars to move back-to-back episodes of his “Comics Unleashed” series down an hour.
“It’s comedy, it’s a lot of incredible comics that he’s able to bring in who participate in it,” Cheeks said. “It’s a change in format, it’s a change from what people are used to, but I would stand by the quality of those shows.”
Cheeks said the network considered several options, including giving time back to affiliates or airing procedural drama repeats in the time slot, before opting for the time buy.
The time buy deal is through the 2026-2027 TV season; as part of the deal, Allen will also continue to lease the 12:37 a.m. hour with another strip from his company, the comedy game show “Funny You Should Ask.”
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Allen has paid CBS to run two episodes of “Comics Unleashed” — usually a new episode paired with a library half-hour — at 12:37 a.m. ET in recent years. First, he took the slot during a 2023-to-2024 gap after “The Late Late Show With James Corden” ended and before “After Midnight” launched in January 2024. He once again took the slot in September 2025 as “After Midnight” ended its run.
Allen has been lobbying to take over the 11:35 p.m. slot from almost the moment that it was revealed that “The Late Show” was ending. “If they’re looking for a show, my hand is already up,” Allen said during New York’s Advertising Week event last October. “50 years, I’ve been waiting for this moment. Definitely, I’m going for it… I’m investing millions and millions of dollars to prove myself at 12:35.”
With CBS going from paying for an expensive late night show to being paid for the time slot, network insiders note that this now makes the Eye profitable in late night — and that this is a first step toward reimagining how to do original, economical fare in the time period.
From Variety US