--- description: Another late-night funnyman is leaving the network as the Late Late Show host announced this week he will step down in December, marking an overhaul of CBS' after-dark lineup with the pending departure of David Letterman next year title: Craig Ferguson Leaves Late Late Show image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0f1dcd87cc1c093/69868ce4e8524b64cb6029de/185856299.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Craig Ferguson Is 'Consciously Uncoupling' From CBS by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 29, 2014 1:38 AM CUT  Craig Ferguson on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson Craig Ferguson on The Late Late Show With Craig FergusonMonty Brinton—CBS/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 29, 2014 1:38 AM CUT Another late-night host is leaving CBS. The _Late Late Show_ host [Craig Ferguson](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/craig-ferguson-exit-late-late-show-699470 "undefined") will be stepping down in December, marking an overhaul of the network’s late-night lineup with the pending departure of David Letterman next year. Ferguson announced his exit during the Monday-night taping of his show (which will air at 12:35 a.m. E.T. Tuesday), [_Variety_](http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/craig-ferguson-to-leave-late-late-show-in-december-1201166165/ "undefined") reports. CBS issued a statement Monday, in which the Scottish-American host said: --- > “” --- There has been speculation that Ferguson, who has been in the slot since 2005, would be departing this year with his contract expiring and Letterman’s production company reportedly not producing any more late shows after the host departs.The _Late Late Show_ was averaging [just under 1.5 million viewers](http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/category/abc/page/3 "undefined") vs. _Late Night_’s 2.2 million recently. Ferguson’s contract also reportedly guaranteed a payout of between $8 million and $10 million if the network decided to give the _Late Show_ hosting gig to anyone else, which it did when Stephen Colbert was tapped to take over for Letterman when he retires in 2015. And while Colbert is already in place to join the late-night lineup, Ferguson’s replacement has yet to be announced. Neil Patrick Harris has been floated as a contender, though other hosts who were rumored to be in the running like Chelsea Handler have already been ruled out. On Monday, Lena Dunham tweeted support for Ferguson, who conducted the _Girls_ creator’s first talk-show interview. > [](https://twitter.com/lenadunham/status/460952483603685376) \[[_Hollywood Reporter_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/craig-ferguson-exit-late-late-show-699470 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/80298/craig-ferguson-is-consciously-uncoupling-from-cbs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/80298/craig-ferguson-is-consciously-uncoupling-from-cbs/"},"headline":"Craig Ferguson Is 'Consciously Uncoupling' From CBS","datePublished":"2014-04-29T01:38:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:32:52.232Z","description":"Another late-night funnyman is leaving the network as the Late Late Show host announced this week he will step down in December, marking an overhaul of CBS' after-dark lineup with the pending departure of David Letterman next year","url":"https://time.com/80298/craig-ferguson-is-consciously-uncoupling-from-cbs/","keywords":["Television","Late late show"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0f1dcd87cc1c093/69868ce4e8524b64cb6029de/185856299.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0f1dcd87cc1c093/69868ce4e8524b64cb6029de/185856299.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson","caption":"The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson","creditText":"Monty Brinton—CBS/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/80298/craig-ferguson-is-consciously-uncoupling-from-cbs/","name":"Craig Ferguson Is 'Consciously Uncoupling' From CBS"}}]}] ```