Joe Battenfeld: Democrats need better icons than multi-millionaire Stephen Colbert

Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald on Jun 1, 2026

Published in Op Eds

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Democrats should come up with better cultural icons than aging, washed up multi-millionaire former talk show hosts.

Liberal hero Stephen Colbert’s long swan song into podcast oblivion showed how clueless Democrats are who worship the rich TV host who lost his job because his show lost $40 million a year for CBS.

Despite all the fanfare and attention devoted to his final show, in which he rolled out ancient Paul McCartney, just 6.7 million viewers watched it – compared to 55 million who tuned in to Johnny Carson’s last show. And that 6.7 million was Colbert’s largest audience in 10 years. He normally drew only 2.5 million viewers a night.

The 62-year-old Colbert was not banished from late night TV because he was a fierce critic of President Donald Trump – he was ejected because he wasn’t funny, and he was a financial disaster for his network.

His “Late Show” continued to nosedive to the tune of millions of dollars a year in losses and the show was canceled “when the network could not figure how to make the finances work in an entertainment world increasingly dominated by streaming,” according to the New York Times.

Colbert’s show even got higher ratings than other late night comedy shows, but that couldn’t pull it out of the financial gutter. In the last decade, young audiences coveted by advertisers have deserted late night TV shows for streaming channels.

Colbert’s audience consisted of liberal baby boomers who now can’t stay up that late to watch the show.

In 2025, the late-night shows reportedly drew about $250 million in advertising revenue, 50% less than before the pandemic. Just the “Late Show” alone lost $50 million during that time. The show cost CBS $100 million a year to produce.

But Colbert got rich with his unfunny satire. He earned $15 million a year and he’s reportedly now worth $75 million.

Colbert isn’t even among the richest late night talk show hosts. Jay Leno, who stayed away from Colbert’s last show, is reportedly worth $450 million.

Colbert, like Tucker Carlson and others, is now finding out that he’s not bigger than his platform. He’ll resort to podcasts to tell his Trump jokes. Where is Carlson today? He’s a fringe element who does the occasional podcast because he lost his platform.

Where is Megyn Kelly? Greta Van Susteren? They all found out they don’t matter once they lost their shows. The 71-year-old Van Susteren with her surgery altered face is on Newsmax. Kelly is a podcaster.

Yet Democrats like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have circled the wagons around Colbert and turned him into some kind of martyr, convinced he was canceled because of his Trump jokes. They have turned his cancellation into a symbol of the First Amendment, even though in fact it’s a symbol of a failed television show.

Colbert didn’t care that he alienated middle America and tens of millions of viewers who don’t agree with his self-absorbed comedy and politics. He is similar to the Democratic Party, preaching to progressives on the East and West Coasts while ignoring the rest of the country.

Like Colbert, Democrats are also doomed to fail unless they figure out how to connect with average Americans. The bitter, woke drumbeat is not working any more.

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