CBS quickly swooped in to replace David Letterman, who will be retiring soon, with “The Colbert Report” host Stephen Colbert on Thursday. Letterman had announced of his retirement last week to be in 2015, without specifying a particular date. CBS confirmed that Colbert inked a five-year contract with them on Thursday. When Letterman surprised the audience when he announced his retirement news after reigning the late-night television spot for nearly three years, Colbert was among the first few names that surfaced.
He was seen as a suitable replacement for David Letterman owing to his successful gimmick as a show host. Nina Tassler, Entertainment Chairman of CBS, confirmed that Letterman played a hand in arriving at the decision for the new show host as well. The 67 year-old legendary anchor joked saying that he knew CBS was on a lookout for another man who wore glasses.
Colbert was delighted by the choice, saying that simply making a guest appearance on Letterman’s show was a highlight in his career and that following on his footsteps is a dream in itself. Letterman was pleased with having Colbert as the selection made by CBS and said that he was excited for him and flattered that he was the one who got selected. Twitter was buzzing with compliments too from fellow late-night show hosts like Jimmy Fallon, Craig Ferguson, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel, all of whom welcomed the new late night show host on board with vigor.
The new late show host will be himself on the show rather than playing a faux show host character. CBS has not announced the location or the creative elements in the show with Colbert as the host yet. It will be interesting to see the new host battle it out with the other reigning hosts to see who claims the realms of late-night shows.