Meet Byron Allen: The new host jumping into Stephen Colbert’s time slot

Summary

"Meet Byron Allen: The New Host Jumping Into Stephen Colbert’s Time Slot"

Consider This from NPR | May 22, 2026
Host: Ailsa Chang
Guest: Byron Allen

---

Overview

This episode centers on Byron Allen—the media mogul and comedian—who is stepping into Stephen Colbert’s late-night slot on CBS with his longstanding show, Comics Unleashed. Ailsa Chang sits down with Allen to dig into his unconventional career, his comedic philosophy, the business moves behind his rise, and his vision for both the show and Black media ownership. The conversation gets candid and, at times, surprisingly combative, as Allen defends his approach amidst critique and discusses his larger ambitions in media.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Byron Allen's Path to CBS Late Night

• Background and Early Start:
  • Allen's roots in stand-up comedy stretch back to his teens, including an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson at age 18 ([00:36]).
• Media Empire:
  • Now a media owner, he controls a portfolio that includes the Weather Channel, local & cable stations, and, most recently, a majority stake in BuzzFeed ([00:17]).
• Dream Opportunity:
  • Hosting a show in the 11:35pm time slot is “a lifelong dream” Allen’s pursued for “51 years” ([03:27]).

Confronting Criticism and Colbert’s Shoes

• Comics Unleashed vs. Colbert:
  • Allen’s show has a 20-year run but has not attained Colbert-level popularity or acclaim—“IMDb rating of 4.3 out of 10” ([04:06]).
• Blunt Response:
  • When asked if he’d change the show to be more competitive:
    • “Am I going to do anything different? Absolutely not.” ([04:33])
• Audience Philosophy:
  • Allen acknowledges not everyone will love his clean, noncontroversial comedy, but focuses on his niche:
    • “You only need 1 or 2% to be a success. Not everybody’s gonna love me… that simple lesson made me a billionaire.” ([06:49])

Limits & Boundaries—Or the Lack Thereof

• Editorial Independence:
  • Allen claims no directives from CBS or Paramount regarding content restrictions:
    • “Absolutely not had any conversations… about what to say or not to say. Politics are no boundaries.” ([05:31])
  • On hypothetical censorship:
    • “I would say, guys, enjoy the 150 million I save you.” ([05:54])

Business Perspective: “It’s Business Show, Not Show Business”

• Ownership Matters:
  • Allen repeatedly emphasizes that Black people must move from creating content to owning it:
    • “My passion is to make sure that we own something as Black people in America… we have plenty of corporations out here who make money off our style, but that’s over. It’s time for us to own it.” ([07:37], [08:02])
• Buying Distressed Properties:
  • On acquiring companies like BET, VH1, and BuzzFeed:
    • “I buy them in the lobby and take them to the penthouse.” ([09:25])
    • “I’m chasing Walt Disney. I’m chasing Rupert Murdoch. …I love business. I live for business. I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I don’t do drugs, I don’t play golf… I love it, I live it, I breathe it.” ([08:53])

Stephen Colbert’s Departure and Mutual Respect

• Colbert’s Legacy:
  • “Stephen Colbert is an American treasure. He is a phenomenal human being… he owns his talent and he has an audience that loves him.” ([09:55])
• Personal Exchange:
  • Colbert congratulated Allen on the new slot:
    • “When he saw that I got the time period, he texted me and he said, ‘Congratulations, I’m very happy for you. Don’t you wish Johnny Carson could have witnessed this?’ And it brought tears to my eyes.” ([10:23])

---

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Doing Things Differently:

  “Am I going to do anything different? Absolutely not.”
  — Byron Allen ([04:33])

• On Audience Size:

  “You only need 1 or 2% to be a success. Not everybody’s gonna love me, but there is that 1 or 2%... and that simple lesson made me a billionaire.”
  — Byron Allen ([06:49])

• On Clean Comedy:

  “We are doing a show with nothing political, racist, sexist or homophobic. That’s right, just clean comedy.”
  — Ailsa Chang quoting Byron Allen ([06:29])

• On Media Ownership:

  “My passion is to make sure that we own something as Black people in America.”
  — Byron Allen ([07:37])
  “We own the content. …That’s over. It's time for us to own it.”
  — Byron Allen ([08:02])

• On Business vs. Show Business:

  “It’s not show business. It’s business show.”
  — Byron Allen ([07:29], [07:33])

• On Buying Distressed Media:

  “A lot of people buy businesses in the penthouse and take them to the lobby. I buy them in the lobby and take them to the penthouse.”
  — Byron Allen ([09:25])

• On Colbert’s Text:

  “Don’t you wish Johnny Carson could have witnessed this?”
  — Stephen Colbert (text to Byron Allen, recounted at [10:23])

• On the Fiery Interview:

  “I felt like I was on Jerry Springer. Maury Pink. Hey, Elsa. I’m not the baby daddy. Elsa. This is not my baby. Elsa.”
  — Byron Allen, wrapping up the interview with humor ([10:46])

---

Important Timestamps

• [00:36] – Allen’s Tonight Show roots
• [03:27] – Dreaming of the CBS late-night slot
• [04:06] – Addressing Comics Unleashed’s lower ratings
• [04:33] – No intended changes for the new slot
• [05:31] – No content restrictions from CBS/Paramount
• [06:29] – Clean comedy quote debated
• [06:49] – “You only need 1 or 2%” philosophy
• [07:29-07:37] – “Business show” philosophy
• [08:02] – On Black ownership & content
• [09:25] – Buying media in the “lobby”
• [09:55] – Colbert tribute
• [10:23] – Colbert’s congratulatory text
• [10:46] – Playful, fiery closing exchange

---

Tone & Style

The conversation is energetic, occasionally confrontational, and threaded with Allen’s signature blend of humor and unapologetic business acumen. Amidst challenging questions, Allen remains true to his ethos—prioritizing both laughter and legacy, while demystifying his ambitions as a Black media trailblazer.

---

For Listeners New to the Episode

This episode provides an unvarnished introduction to Byron Allen as both a media mogul and comedy stalwart. Whether you're curious about the future of CBS late-night or the evolution of Black media ownership, Allen’s blunt, business-first answers and sharp wit make for a candid, illuminating listen.

Transcript

[Ailsa Chang]

It's consider this from npr where every day we go deep on one big news story. Today, the successor to Stephen Colbert's late night slot on cbs.

[Byron Allen]

All right, you guys are a hot crowd. We're gonna have a lot of fun tonight. Give yourselves a round of applause.

[Ailsa Chang]

Byron Allen, He's a media mogul who owns the Weather Channel, a bunch of local TV and cable channels and he's also just acquired a majority stake in BuzzFeed by Byron Allen also has deep roots in stand up comedy.

[Byron Allen]

Thank you. Thank you. I guess I'd tell you about myself first.

[Ailsa Chang]

When he was just 18 years old, still in high school, he appeared on the Tonight show starring Johnny Carson.

[Byron Allen]

Favorite class is algebra. Oh, see. Cause I have a real hip teacher. Gives us problems we can relate to. It's like if Bob has a hundred Hostess Twinkies, eats 87 of them, how many joints did he smoke?

[Ailsa Chang]

And for the last 20 years, Byron Allen has been the host of the comedy roundtable show Comics Unleashed.

[Byron Allen]

All right, we're gonna have a great time tonight. Some very funny people here say hello to.

[Ailsa Chang]

And now on Friday, that very show goes up against Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel. It is shaking up the whole late night comedy lineup. Consider Meet the Man taking over CBS late night. From npr, I'm Ailsa Chang.

[NPR Sponsor Announcer]

This message comes from Babbel. Babbel's conversation based language technique teaches you useful words and phrases to get you speaking quickly about the things you actually talk about in the real world with lessons handcrafted by over 200 language experts and voiced by real native speakers. Start speaking with Babel today. Get up to 55% off your Babel subscription right now at babel.com npr spelled B-A-B-B-E-L.com npr rules and restrictions may apply.

This message comes from Jerry. Many people are overpaying on car insurance. Why? Switching providers can be a pain. Jerry helps make the process painless. Jerry is the only app that compares rates from over 50 insurers in minutes and helps you switch fast with no spam calls or hidden fees. Drivers who save with Jerry could save over $1,300 a year. Before you renew your car insurance policy, download the Jeri app or head to Jerry ainpr.

This message comes from NPR sponsor Carvana Making. Buying a car 100% online with real transparent pricing and customizable financing that fits your budget brand. Browse thousands of cars and get yours delivered. Visit Carvana.com today. Delivery fees and terms may apply.

[Ailsa Chang]

It's consider this from NPR Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen is a comedy roundtable made right here in Culver City. And so I headed over to his production studios on Thursday to sit down with him. As Allen said, airing his show in the 11:35pm slot has been a lifelong dream.

[Byron Allen]

I feel great. I feel amazing. You know, I tell everybody I have been pursuing this for 51 years.

[Ailsa Chang]

And then our conversation got way more heated than I expected. You're about to hear part of that conversation. And there's a lot more you can listen to and watch in the latest episode of NPR's Newsmakers. That's our new video podcast where you can find NPR's big this show has had hundreds of episodes since you started it about 20 years ago.

[Byron Allen]

That's right.

[Ailsa Chang]

And let's be honest, Byron, your show, Comics Unleashed is nowhere near as popular as a show that it's replacing Colbert.

[Byron Allen]

I never said it was.

[Ailsa Chang]

Ok, wait, wait. For years your show has not gotten great reviews like people on IMDb gave it a rating of 4.3 out of 10.

[Byron Allen]

That's too many.

[Ailsa Chang]

That's not a great rating by far. I wanna ask you, I wanna ask you, are you doing anything different with this time around so you can make it better?

[Byron Allen]

Okay.

[Ailsa Chang]

Do you want to make it better?

[Byron Allen]

Okay, so we're going to talk about better? Yeah, let's talk about better. Am I going to do anything different?

[Ailsa Chang]

Yeah.

[Byron Allen]

Absolutely not.

[Ailsa Chang]

Wait, but Byron, the reason I'm asking you if you're going to meet the moment is you have an opportunity here, you have an opportunity to capture Stephen Colbert's audience wrong, which is more than two and a half million viewers per episode. Wait, you have no interest in their eyeballs.

[Byron Allen]

But here's what I have to say, okay? Real simple. Real simple. So now when we started doing the show, right, Comics Unleashed, we're now celebrating our 20th anniversary, 20 years. You tell me what show could stay on the air that long, and I'm proud of it because we've had on over a thousand comedians and we've had on every shape, size, color, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, gay, Jewish, Muslim.

[Ailsa Chang]

I want to know, have you had any conversations with anybody at CBS or at Paramount about boundaries not to cross or topics to avoid on Comics Unleashed?

[Byron Allen]

Absolutely not.

[Ailsa Chang]

Okay, how about down the road?

[Byron Allen]

No, no. You have a question? I want to be clear. I have absolutely not had any conversations with anybody at CBS or Paramount about what to say or not to say. Politics are no boundaries.

[Ailsa Chang]

If Paramount or if someone at CBS down the road comes to you and says, don't have that comic on your show or don't talk about that topic. What would you do in that scenario?

[Byron Allen]

I would say, guys, enjoy the 150 million. I save you.

[Ailsa Chang]

Okay, now we've been talking a lot about how you.

[Byron Allen]

Come on now. You have to talk to me. Business show, not show business. You have to remember this.

[Ailsa Chang]

Let's talk about your business show.

[Byron Allen]

No, no, no, let's talk about business show. I pay them millions on top of the 150 they're saving.

[Ailsa Chang]

Oh, yeah, you're saving them money. And also you're offering them. You're also offering them comedy that you say will not be controversial.

[Byron Allen]

In fact, I didn't say the word controversial.

[Ailsa Chang]

Okay, let me read your quote.

[Byron Allen]

Let me say controversial.

[Ailsa Chang]

Byron, let me read your quote. These are your words.

[Byron Allen]

Okay?

[Ailsa Chang]

We are doing a show with nothing political, racist, sexist or homophobic. That's right, just clean comedy.

[Byron Allen]

I never used the word controversial.

[Ailsa Chang]

What do you say to people out there who are listening or reading that quote and thinking to themselves, that sounds like some boring toothless comedy?

[Byron Allen]

Okay, here's what I would say.

[Ailsa Chang]

What do you say to them?

[Byron Allen]

I would say to them for you, that may be boring toothless comedy. You have a huge audience out there. You only need 1 or 2% to be a success. Not everybody's gonna love me, but there is that 1 or 2%. That would be like, hell yeah, I'm rolling with you. And I learned that at an early age. And by the way, that simple lesson made me a billionaire.

[Ailsa Chang]

You've been doing comedy since you were a kid. We've been talking about. You were on Carson when you were 18.

[Byron Allen]

Yes.

[Ailsa Chang]

Can you just explain to me, like over the years, over the course of your life, why did you decide eventually to start leaning more into the business side of it all instead of focusing on the craft of comedy itself and only that?

[Byron Allen]

Yeah, it's not show business, it's business show.

[Ailsa Chang]

Okay, Your favorite line, it is business show.

[Byron Allen]

Meaning, look, I've been able to sell 74 television shows. I have on more first run shows than all the studios combined. I have on over 13 hours a day of television with my name on it. And that's important to me because my passion is to make sure that we own something as black people in America.

[Ailsa Chang]

Right? That we control that black people not just make content, they own the content.

[Byron Allen]

We own the content. You know, we have plenty of corporations out here who make money off of our style, our creativity, our swagger, but that's over. It's time for us to own It.

[Ailsa Chang]

I get that. And I get that that's a very important desire.

[Byron Allen]

Yes.

[Ailsa Chang]

I also want to understand what kind of media mogul you want to be as that black American. Why do I ask this? Because you have this long history of trying to buy media properties that are in dec like BET and VH1. You also tried to buy Paramount before Skydance showed up. You just acquired this majority stake in BuzzFeed. So you do have this pattern of going after media platforms that are in distress. What is the strategy? Is it you're actually trying to make these platforms better, or are you mainly just trying to grab up as much stuff as possible to grow your empire?

[Byron Allen]

Well, yeah, it's both. I feel I can make them better. And you do need scale. I'm chasing Walt Disney. I'm chasing Rupert Murdoch. Those are the best of the best in media. I love business. I live for business. I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't do drugs. I don't play golf. You know what I love to do? I love business. I love it. I live it, I breathe it.

[Ailsa Chang]

I never thought I'd call as a vice sleeping.

[Byron Allen]

You never thought of what is golf as advice? Well, you're taking up time trying to get a white ball in the hole.

[Ailsa Chang]

Come on now.

[Byron Allen]

My passion is business. A lot of people buy businesses in the penthouse and take them to the lobby. I buy them in the lobby and take them to the penthouse.

[Ailsa Chang]

I do wanna return to the reason that we are talking here today, and that is the cancellation of Stephen Colbert.

[Byron Allen]

I had nothing to do with that.

[Ailsa Chang]

I know you have called that cancellation a quote.

[Byron Allen]

I had nothing to do with that.

[Ailsa Chang]

You called it a quote. Unfortunate event. So let me ask you this.

[Byron Allen]

It was.

[Ailsa Chang]

What do we lose when someone like Stephen Colbert goes off the air?

[Byron Allen]

Stephen Colbert is an American treasure. He is a phenomenal human being. Here's the good news. He owns his talent and he has an audience that loves him. He just has to decide where he wants to plan his flag next. And quite frankly, there's so many places he can go. I would support him on anything he wants to do. He doesn't need me, but I would do it in a nanosecond.

[Ailsa Chang]

You need to invite him on Comics Unleashed.

[Byron Allen]

He's always invited. And by the way, when he saw that I got the time period, he texted me and he said, congratulations, I'm very happy for you. Don't you wish Johnny Carson could have witnessed this? And it brought tears to my eyes.

[Ailsa Chang]

Yeah, I bet. Byron Allen, host of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen.

[Byron Allen]

The best of the best.

[Ailsa Chang]

Baby, so great talking to you.

[Byron Allen]

Oh, yeah. Elsa, I love this one. This was good. This was confrontational. I felt like I was on Jerry Springer. Maury Pink. Hey, Elsa. I'm not the baby daddy. Elsa. This is not my baby. Elsa.

[Ailsa Chang]

This episode was produced by Erica Ryan and Karen Zamora, with audio engineering by Kwesi Lee and Maggie Luthar. It was edited by Christopher Intagliata and Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigun. It's consider this from NPR. I'm Ailsa Chang.

[NPR Sponsor Announcer]

This message comes from BetterHelp. May is mental Health Awareness Month, a reminder that you don't have to do this life alone. From loneliness to anxiety to financial stress, right now, people everywhere are struggling. But having a licensed therapist with you by video phone or chat can make a difference. And BetterHelp makes it easy. Sign up now and get 10% [e-mail] NPR that's betterhelp.com NPR Want to hear

this podcast without sponsor breaks? Amazon prime members can listen to Consider this sponsor free through Amazon Music. Or you can also support NPR's vital journalism and get NPR [e-mail] that's plus.NPR.org.