Stephen Colbert’s Late Show is over, and while the official reason has yet to be confirmed, reports suggest CBS was hemorrhaging money to the tune of $40 million a year. The show reportedly employed more than 220 staffers and cost an eye-popping $100 million annually to produce.  Yes, there is the whole corporate fealty to Trump at play, which I went into great detail on Friday, but this blockbuster-movie money for a nightly talk show. In an age of media belt-tightening and digital fragmentation, that model may simply no longer be sustainable.

Which brings us to Greg Gutfeld.

Yes, Gutfeld—the often smirking, occasionally cringeworthy Fox News host who somehow emerged as a legit force in late-night-style comedy. And while I’ve personally called his brand of humor “witless” (and stand by that), it’s impossible to deny: Gutfeld has cracked the code, disrupting a TV genre once defined by Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Jay Leno, and yes, Colbert himself.

Let’s be clear: Gutfeld! airs at 10 p.m. ET, which technically makes it a primetime show. But in tone, structure, and format, it’s a late-night show—monologue, roundtable, recurring gags, rotating co-hosts with semi-celebrity status, and alt-right bona fides, with a wink toward absurdist commentary on the day’s news almost always at the expense of libturds and lamestream media.

What sets it apart isn’t just that it’s on Fox News, but that it’s doing all this with a staff reportedly no bigger than maybe twenty people? Gutfeld’s creative team is small, tight, and far from bloated.

That lends something to his show that late-night hasn’t had in a long time: authenticity. You might not like the jokes (I usually don’t), but the DIY spirit is palpable. Gutfeld honed his voice back in the Maxim and Stuff magazine days, where the “laddie” culture prioritized irreverence, irrelevance, and low-fi swagger. He sharpened his satirical chops further hosting Fox’s cult-classic Red Eye, a weird, smart, surreal show that quietly built him a following among insomniac media nerds and libertarian night owls.

The result is a show that, while not for everyone, clearly resonates with a large audience—an audience that often feels condescended to or outright ignored by mainstream comedy. Much of that can be attributed to Fox News’ built-in viewership who, judging by the networks dominant ratings, seem eager to watch every hour of programming on the network .

Suzanne Scott, Fox News CEO, deserves credit for greenlighting the 10 p.m. shift that let Gutfeld own a bold new time slot — a gamble that paid off big. Launching a late-night show on a cable news network was risky, but she recognized the post-pandemic appetite for smart, fun, non-lecturey comedy.

The success of Gutfeld! also shines a harsh light on the conventional and now outdated late-night formula.

At its best, Colbert’s Late Show was a cultural powerhouse, especially in the Trump years, where sharp monologues and political satire helped redefine the genre. But as the political moment shifted and the national mood splintered, the high-cost, high-effort model began to show its cracks. And with the media industry undergoing massive changes—cord-cutting, ad revenue declines, and digital disruption—it’s increasingly hard to justify $100 million for a nightly talk show, even one with an A-list host.

It’s ironic, maybe even darkly comedic, that Fox News—once seen as antithetical to comedy—now produces the most-watched “late-night” show on cable. While the other networks trim costs or shut down completely, Gutfeld’s frugally produced, stripped-down format thrives. The jokes might be cheap—but so is the overhead.

To be fair, there’s room for everyone. Comedy is subjective. Gutfeld’s not for me, just as Colbert was never going to win over the Hannity crowd. But TV is a business, and in the end, the audience decides. And right now, more viewers are tuning into the scrappy, sarcastic conservative guy — notorious for his ill-advised bit in trying to reclaim “nazi” for conservatives — on Fox with a dozen writers and a former pro wrestler.

Restaurants have menus for a reason. You may not want what Gutfeld’s serving—but a whole lot of people clearly do.

The post Greg Gutfeld’s Disruptive Rise: How a Fox News Prankster Broke Late-Night TV first appeared on Mediaite.

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