Stephen Colbert, the host of "The Late Show," has blamed a producer for turning the show into a left-wing lecture hour, claiming he was encouraged by the network to be less topical and more focused on engaging in contentious public discourse. The show, which will end its final episode next month, has been losing money and falling ratings for years. Colbert, who gained notoriety hosting the Comedy Central news satire show "The Colbert Report" and took over hosting the show in 2015 after David Letterman's departure, said the 2016 party conventions were a turning point for him to return to his political background. He has been vocal about CBS's decision to discontinive the show, arguing that the format and content of the show could be in trouble due to competition from other platforms like YouTube and streaming.