Less than 23 hours after The Late Show host Stephen Colbert waved goodbye to network television, he migrated his massive audience to an independent YouTube channel (@Colbert).
Colbert appeared as a surprise host in Only in Monroe—a tiny, real public-access cable station operating out of Monroe, Michigan.
Will Stephen Colbert be moving to YouTube after The Late Show leaves CBS?
The episode was a nostalgic callback to a legendary public-access parody episode he shot there back in July 2015 before taking over from David Letterman.
Despite looking like a low-tech production, the episode was actually a high-profile production financed by CBS, pulling strings to secure massive guest appearances from Eminem, Steve Buscemi, Jeff Daniels, and Jack White.
Colbert began the show with a direct shot at his former bosses: “It’s been an excruciating 23 hours without being on TV, so I am grateful to be able to be here on Monroe Community Media before they also get acquired by Paramount.”
Over the weekend, bootlegged videos of the Eminem interview flooded the internet. CBS’s automated copyright infringement system immediately issued strikes and takedown notices. This spread the rumors among Colbert fans that CBS was trying to wipe him off the face of the internet.
A CBS spokesperson combatted the bad PR, saying that the copyright actions were automated and that they were merely intended to protect the launch of Colbert’s official new YouTube channel. He also added that actions against the infringement have been waived on the episode, and it can now be shared freely.
CBS is seemingly cooperating with the former Late Show host to move his base to his own YouTube channel and helped him pull a stunt on public-access television.
The much-disputed cancellation of the 33-year-old show is speculated to have been a political decision triggered by a change in Paramount’s top brass. CBS’s parent company, Paramount, has repeatedly been taken over by Trump loyalists David Ellison and Larry Ellison.
DO YOU THINK STEPHEN COLBERT IS MOVING TO YOUTUBE?
Originally reported by Sreemanti Sengupta for Reality Tea
