Empty auditorium of the Ed Sullivan Theater with a lit marquee on stage reading The Late Show Stephen Colbert.

CBS announced in July 2025 that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert would end in May 2026 and that the Late Show franchise would be retired. The network described the decision as financial, not a reflection of Colbert’s performance, voice, or impact. For nearly a decade, Colbert carried the Sullivan tradition forward with wit, humanity, and a steady command of the room. His final episode is scheduled for May 21, 2026, marking the end of a major era not only for CBS late night, but for one of New York’s most storied stages. However, that does not mean the Ed Sullivan Theater is disappearing. Its lobbies and auditorium interiors were designated a New York City landmark in 1988, and the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In other words, this is not a story about a theater being erased. It is a story about a room losing its current purpose and waiting to find out what comes next. There is something poetic about that uncertainty, because the Ed Sullivan Theater has always survived by changing. Born from Broadway, reshaped by hardship, revived through radio, transformed by television, immortalized by Sullivan, reintroduced by Letterman, and carried into the twenty-first century by Colbert, each era left its mark. The final days of The Late Show at the Ed Sullivan Theater are not simply the end of a television program. They are a reminder of how much American entertainment has passed through one Broadway address. Wherever comes next, the Ed Sullivan Mehr sehen