<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Website </Td> </Tr> <P> The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is an American late - night talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015 . Produced by Spartina Productions and CBS Television Studios, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is the second iteration of CBS's Late Show franchise . Stay Human, led by bandleader Jon Batiste, serves as the program's house band, and the announcer is program writer Jen Spyra . </P> <P> The program is taped at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City and airs live to tape in most U.S. markets at 11: 35 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, and 10: 35 Central . </P> <P> Prior to Colbert's assumption of hosting duties, David Letterman had been host of Late Show for 22 years, dating to his arrival at CBS in 1993 . CBS had not had a regular late - night talk show for most of its existence prior to that point, with only one attempt (the short - lived Pat Sajak Show in 1990) between 1972 and Letterman's arrival . Letterman, who joined CBS from NBC after ending his eleven - year run as host of Late Night and losing out on being Johnny Carson's successor on The Tonight Show to Jay Leno, was initially competitive with his show's bitter rival, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno; Letterman's Late Show, however, slowly experienced a decline in ratings over the course of the 1990s and 2000s, dating back to an affiliation agreement between New World Communications and Fox that resulted in all nine CBS - affiliated stations it owned or recently acquired switching to Fox between September and December 1994, relegating the network to lower - rated former Fox affiliates and independent stations in many major cities . </P>

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