Media commentator Joe Concha rejected claims that President Trump was responsible for Stephen Colbert being taken off the air, arguing the explanation behind the late-night host’s exit was financial rather than political.

Concha said the narrative being promoted by legacy media and Democrats ignores key numbers tied to the operations, staffing and financial performance of “The Late Show.”

“There's this utterly ridiculous narrative being pushed by many in legacy media, Democrats themselves, that Donald Trump ordered Stephen Colbert to be taken off the air,” Concha said.

Concha said he addressed the issue in a column for the Washington Examiner and argued several figures help explain why CBS would move on from Colbert.

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“But as I wrote on this week in the Washington Examiner, there's some very important numbers to consider here,” Concha said.

He first pointed to the size of the show’s staff.

“Otherwise, okay, the first number is 200 plus, that's the number of staffers The Late Show currently employees,” Concha said.

Concha questioned why a late-night program with a relatively simple format would require such a large staff.

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“I mean, can anyone explain why a program that consists almost entirely of two people talking across a desk needs more than 200 staffers?” Concha asked. “Because I can't get there.”

He also cited the number of writers listed in the show’s credits.

“Second number, 22 that's the number of writers Colbert has to write his monologs, and that's according to the show credits,” Concha said.

Concha argued the show’s content had become repetitive because of its consistent focus on President Trump and conservatives.

“And most of those monologs, the days change, but they really don't, because the screeds are always against Trump or conservatives, right on a Groundhog Day,” Concha said. “It's utterly predictable.”

Concha also criticized the show’s guest booking, saying Republicans were largely absent from the program.

“Another number, one, that's the number of Republicans that have been invited on the show in the past six years,” Concha said.

He said the lone Republican guest was former Rep. Liz Cheney, who became one of Trump’s most outspoken Republican critics.

“And, of course, that was the anti-Trump Liz Cheney,” Concha said.

Concha contrasted that with the number of appearances by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

“How about this number? 15, that's the number of times Bernie Sanders has appeared as a guest on the show,” Concha said.

He mocked the decision to repeatedly feature Sanders on a program meant to provide late-night entertainment.

“Because when you think entertainment, the first person that comes to mind is a hypocritical Democratic Socialist, right?” Concha said.

Concha also noted frequent appearances by CNN anchor Jake Tapper.

“14 times, that's the number of times Todd that Jake Tapper has appeared on Colbert,” Concha said.

He added that Tapper’s ratings position made the recurring appearances difficult to justify.

“Because you know he's only third, a distant third in the cable news race in his time slot, seemingly he has more staffers than viewers at this point,” Concha said.

Concha said the most important number tied to Colbert’s exit was the show’s reported annual financial loss.

“And finally, 40 million,” Concha said. “This is the most important number, guys.”

“That's the amount of money annually that Stephen Colbert was losing for CBS,” Concha said.

Concha argued CBS could not be expected to continue absorbing that kind of loss, regardless of Colbert’s political message or cultural status.

“His job is not a charity,” Concha said.

“If he wants to be an activist, fine, but you can't cost your shareholders that kind of money on a yearly basis, because you have to pay all these staffers, have all these production costs, and not have the return on investment on it,” Concha said.

Concha concluded by saying Colbert’s show was not canceled because of pressure from President Trump but because it was financially unsustainable.

“So, I think in the end he's being celebrated as iconic, but no, actually he was predictable, and again he was losing boatloads of money for a company,” Concha said.

“You can't do that and expect to keep your job.”

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