Latest / Kvetch & Release / 610 CKTB | Gutting Ed Sullivan: CBS’s Leased Corp Lobotomy Spurred Colbert’s Michigan Rebellion

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610 CKTB | Gutting Ed Sullivan: CBS’s Leased Corp Lobotomy Spurred Colbert’s Michigan Rebellion · Kvetch & Release

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: He's Gene Malias on six ten CKTV, Niagrez News and Song.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Today. Our good pal John Litkey is a standing by
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Good morning John, Good morning Jane. Hey. So the lights
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: went out on the Ed Sullivan Theater last week and
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: that was it for the Colbert Show. CBS told us
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: it was just business. But you're going to have to
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: explain this one to me, because I saw a clip
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: of it. Twenty three hours later, Colbert re emerged in
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: a Michigan basement on what looks like a really cheap
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: and cheesy cable TV show, something akin to what Wayne's
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: World way back in the day. So you have to
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: explain that one to me, and why the lawyers went
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: into a bit of a tailspin when suddenly they just
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: thought Stephen Colbert was going to walk away and all
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: of a sudden, he's doing a cheesy cable TV show.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: But I mean, he had like eminem on the thing.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: It was. So he started out the late show because
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: he had to transition from the Coulbert rapport on Comedy Central,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: where he was a right wing provocateur comedy satirical host.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: So they want to do a bit of a palate
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: cleanser and so he showed up on Monroe Cable Access
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: in Michigan for fifteen years ago, eleven years ago for
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: just a one hour segment, and he transitioned out of
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: the Late Show by doing the exact same thing, and
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: he had Jack White doing the music. He had Eminem
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: show up, Jeff Daniels, stiv Buscemi. It was incredible and
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: it really puts CBS in their place because it showed
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: we don't he doesn't need their platform, he has their own.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: But we've got to admit what's actually occurring. CBS had
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: a premeditated corporate execution that's being sold as a strategic pivot.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: It's not a business decision. It's the liquidation of the
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: public square. They didn't just turn off the lights, they
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: destroyed the set, they pulled the plug and now it's
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: a shakedown that we're all watching and the audience is
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: actually a victim and the shareholders of the beneficiaries of
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: the silence, and it's all because they want to set
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: the stage for a merger that Oh, that's right, Donald
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Trump's friend who FCC chair has to approve.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: Yes, of course, it was definitely a corporate shakedown. I
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: think nobody believes it was just business as usual.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: I don't see how you could. I mean, and we
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: can talk a little bit more of that as it
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: comes up, but I mean they paid essentially what was
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: a bribe to the Presidential Library. Colbert called it a
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: bribe on air, and then he was canceled days later.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: I mean, we just have to look at the series
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: of events chronologically. It doesn't take up a scientist here.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, CBS is replacing the Colbert show of the Late
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: Night Show with Byron Allen's comics Unleashed. Now you know,
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: here's what's interesting about that? Well, two things. Hey, they
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: had the first episode the night after Colbert signed off,
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: and I found out why because that is the anniversary
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: date that Byron Allen appeared on The Tonight Show with
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: Johnny Carson. So we wanted to bring them around a
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: full circle. But then you're telling me buy Renowlan's not
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: getting paid what hello.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean that would be one thing. He's actually
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: paying CBS for the opportunity of having the time slot.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: And it's a total shell game. They didn't just fire
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: the top guy in Late Night. They've turned a historic
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: Manhattan stage into a low yield rental property. They're no
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: longer in the business of paying for talent in the
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: Late Show, they're in the business of rent collection. To
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: keep things quiet. They're using this man as a financial
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: human shield. They get to claim diversity while leasing the
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: airwaves to a guy who has been directed to keep
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: it a political This is the ultimate big yellow taxi.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: They're they're paving paradise for a parking lot here. They'd
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: rather just put up a food truck.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, Paramount paid the sixteen million as a settlement
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: to Donald Trump recently for and it's going to go
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: to the library now. Colbert called it the big fat pride.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: I mean, how else does it look?
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: I mean, come on, this is like asset management truth gene.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Paramount paid the bribe. Colbert called them out. Days later,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: he's been shown the door, and the reason is because
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Paramount is desperate for FCC approval on an eight and
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: a half billion dollar merger. The Trump state has signaled
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: that the satire exemption is done. And I mean, look,
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: he's even going after the view right now. For gosh sakes.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: They've traded the First Amendment for a regulatory rubber stamp.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: And they didn't cancel the show because it was losing
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: any money. They canceled the host because they wanted to
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: secure the windfall. This is a corporate lobotomy performed for
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: a permit.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: Let's get back to that little Michigan cable TV show
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: that was a surprise, but immediately it was hit with
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: copyright infringing infringements by CBS. So I mean so now
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: they claim they actually financed the production of that. Did
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: cold it was? Did he pull a fast one on CBS?
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: This might be the best part of this all tame
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: rankly so he used their own poison pill the budget
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: to fund his rebellion against them. They claim they financed it. Yeah,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: they did. Colbert used his remaining production crew and budget
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: to build a digital life draft while he was still
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: on their clock. Paramount only waived the copyright strikes that
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: they started to levy at him because it was pr
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: suicide to keep going. They realized, wait, he put together
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: a show for probably fifteen thousand dollars that's garnered six
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: and a half million people in eight hours, and it
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: had M and M and Jack White and Jeff Daniels
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: and Steve Buscemi. They realized they paid for the fighting
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: for the lighting match that Colbert used to start the fire,
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: and now they're trying to invoice him for the smoke
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: damage that's been caused. But again, the whole thing was
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: started by their actions at the beginning. So you know,
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: my daddy always said, don't go to pick a fight
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: with someone who buys ink by the gallon, but also
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: don't go to fight with a guy who has one
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: hundred million fans on the internet and is able to
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: garner support on a moment's notice.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm glad they're shipping the Light Show set off
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: to a museum in Chicago. But boy, that theater is
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: just so incredible. It's just filled with history, you know,
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: which is why they had one of the Beatles on there,
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: because you know, everybody knows the Beatles from the Ed
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: Sullivan Show, and that's the d Selvin Theater. I hope
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: that they're not getting rid of this theater, are they?
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: So when they got rid of David Letterman through that
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: forced retirement sort of that it was, it was a
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: voluntary force retirement. The day after the show ended, I
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: think there was a literal dumpster fire outside of the
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: theater of all of the assets of it, and that
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: set was completely destroyed. I think they recognized that if
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: they did that in this case, it would be a
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: really bad pr move, especially with the Internet being what
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: it is today. But let's not call it charity. I mean,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: I agree with you. They're shipping the set to Chicago,
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: that's where Stephen Colbert is from. But I like that
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: it's being saved. I love a good walking museum, don't
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: get me wrong. But they're physically gutting the infrastructure of discent.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: This is sort of like what Doug Ford is doing
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: with the Ontario Science Center. Move the landmark under the
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: guise of logistics, and then the space can never be
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: used for the original purpose. Again. They've dismantled it so
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: that if the political winds do change after approval or otherwise,
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: there is no nothing left to come back to. They
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: want a quiet, empty room that produces nothing but margin
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: and silence. Hopefully it can get back to what it
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: once was because it's such a storied room.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah. And I guess if you look at Doug Ford's
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: two hundred dollars rebate checks, and you take a look
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: at CBS canceling the show Trump didn't like to help
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: build his library, can you say we're getting into the
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: era of managed silence.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: John, it really feels like it. I mean, the ashvill
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: is still wet. The footprints lead straight to the boardroom.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: Whether it's a Manhattan theater gene that's being gutted or
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: the Ontario Science Center being moved to a waterfront parking lot,
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: strategy is still the same decommission. The things that aren't
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: good for your brand, whether it's a corporate brand or
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: a political brand, or the ven diagram overlap. These people
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: want us living in a world of comics, unleashed, evergreen,
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: a political safe for the shareholders, but unpalatable for the
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: vast majority of the people who will ever pay attention
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: to it. And that's probably the same with the Science
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: Center that's gonna be shrunk. So they're paving the public square.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: They're handing us the two hundred dollars rebate to cover
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: the parking fee and telling us to enjoy what you get.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: That's the scraps of it. But Paramount owns the signal.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: Colbert though, owns the match. As I said, So the
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: flames they're still visible from Monroe, and we'll see who's
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: laughing when the merger dust settles, the bill comes due
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: and Colbert still has his audience.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: Great take. I love it. Thank you John, thank you Geene.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: Here he goes John Lickey always a great take on
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: things happening on our planet Earth. That was good.