Everybody is saying this is politically motivated and I don’t really think I buy that. Not ruling out the possibility entirely, though. Anything is possible but the logic just doesn’t work out to me.
First, CBS paid Trump. Trump didn’t pay them. They already capitulated by paying him off. Why would they capitulate further by getting rid of the most popular late night program if it was profitable?
Second, if this was political why are they keeping the show on until May of next year? Wouldn’t trump want them to cancel it sooner?
Third, they’re canceling the late show entirely. If they were canceling it to get someone critical of trump out of there why wouldn’t they just replace colbert with someone more favorable to him?
Fourth, these shows have had declining ratings for years now and the writing has been on the wall for a long time that these shows were not going to be able to hang around for forever in today’s streaming climate. I think more cancelation announcements are likely.
As much as I hate trump and wouldn’t put something like this past him I really don’t think it’s likely that this has anything to do with him. Doing this for money reasons is fully in line with how terrible capitalism is for art and I can absolutely believe that this was some dumbfuck accounting decision.
CBS’ parent company, Paramount, is in merger talks with Skydance. Mergers must be approved by the federal government. (I thought it was the FTC, but I see the FCC mentioned in articles about this … don’t want to dig into the weeds here. The feds must approve.)
This used to be done by a theoretically impartial board which would make decisions based on benefit to the public. Now there isn’t even a pretense of caring about the public good. If Trump is happy with the tribute he receives, the merger will go through. If he’s upset, it won’t.
Yeah, CBS already folded and paid a huge fine as a “settlement” to a lawsuit they could almost certainly have won in court, but when you’re trying to appease a mob boss you just have to keep paying.
It’s true that putting the end date for Colbert a year out isn’t as extreme an appeasement than just pulling him off the air, but there are many factors involved. The mob boss has declared that he is pleased with the outcome, so mission accomplished.
Whoever downvoted MeaanBeaan here, why? I suspect you just disagree; that’s not a legitimate reason for a downvote. He bothered to offer his analysis, and at least to me it reads like a legit take on events, not trolling. If you disagree, say what you disagree with (like I did). If you’re too lazy to do that, just skip it. Downvotes are for trolls.
Everybody is saying this is politically motivated and I don’t really think I buy that. Not ruling out the possibility entirely, though. Anything is possible but the logic just doesn’t work out to me.
First, CBS paid Trump. Trump didn’t pay them. They already capitulated by paying him off. Why would they capitulate further by getting rid of the most popular late night program if it was profitable?
Second, if this was political why are they keeping the show on until May of next year? Wouldn’t trump want them to cancel it sooner?
Third, they’re canceling the late show entirely. If they were canceling it to get someone critical of trump out of there why wouldn’t they just replace colbert with someone more favorable to him?
Fourth, these shows have had declining ratings for years now and the writing has been on the wall for a long time that these shows were not going to be able to hang around for forever in today’s streaming climate. I think more cancelation announcements are likely.
As much as I hate trump and wouldn’t put something like this past him I really don’t think it’s likely that this has anything to do with him. Doing this for money reasons is fully in line with how terrible capitalism is for art and I can absolutely believe that this was some dumbfuck accounting decision.
CBS’ parent company, Paramount, is in merger talks with Skydance. Mergers must be approved by the federal government. (I thought it was the FTC, but I see the FCC mentioned in articles about this … don’t want to dig into the weeds here. The feds must approve.)
This used to be done by a theoretically impartial board which would make decisions based on benefit to the public. Now there isn’t even a pretense of caring about the public good. If Trump is happy with the tribute he receives, the merger will go through. If he’s upset, it won’t.
Yeah, CBS already folded and paid a huge fine as a “settlement” to a lawsuit they could almost certainly have won in court, but when you’re trying to appease a mob boss you just have to keep paying.
It’s true that putting the end date for Colbert a year out isn’t as extreme an appeasement than just pulling him off the air, but there are many factors involved. The mob boss has declared that he is pleased with the outcome, so mission accomplished.
Also Skydance’s owner is a Trump ally
It wasn’t a fine, it was a “donation” to Trump presidential library. It’s completely different
A fine implies that the money goes to the government, but here goes directly in Trump’s hands
Whoever downvoted MeaanBeaan here, why? I suspect you just disagree; that’s not a legitimate reason for a downvote. He bothered to offer his analysis, and at least to me it reads like a legit take on events, not trolling. If you disagree, say what you disagree with (like I did). If you’re too lazy to do that, just skip it. Downvotes are for trolls.
Tldr. Downvoted.
While I agree with your sentiment, don’t turn this place into reddit