CBS is one of the main broadcast partners of the NFL and is set to air more than 100 of the league’s games during the 2026-27 season, including some postseason games, including the Super Bowl. However, before the start of this season, fans are being encouraged to boycott the network.
Last week, Stephen Colbert officially hosted his last episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert after CBS decided to cancel the long-running show. Following that decision, which many believed to be political, Americans are now being urged to “boycott” the network, even if it means skipping some NFL games this season.
Colbert’s Cancellation
The announcement that Colbert’s show would be canceled came just days after Colbert publicly criticized Paramount Global — CBS’s parent company — for settling a lawsuit with President Trump over CBS’s handling of a 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
Colbert called the $16 million settlement a “big fat bribe” and said he was “offended” by it. The timing was especially suspicious because the merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media needed approval from Trump’s FCC chair, and was in its final stages at the time. CBS, however, has insisted that the decision to cancel the show was purely a financial decision.
Fans Urged to Boycott
Since Colbert’s cancellation, there has been a growing movement encouraging Americans to boycott CBS as a result of the decision. One of the loudest voices leading that push has been Colbert’s fellow late-night host, Jimmy Kimmel.
Kimmel, who works for ABC, where he hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live!, was the subject of his own political pressure last year, resulting in a brief suspension after he criticized the right-wing reaction to the death of Charlie Kirk. Kimmel has since returned to the air, and he is now using his platform to encourage his viewers to never watch CBS again.
“On behalf of everyone at our show, we want to say to everyone at your show: It has been a pleasure to work alongside you. I will be watching tomorrow night. I hope that those of you who watch our show will also tune in to CBS for the last time. Don’t ever watch it again,” Kimmel said ahead of Colbert’s final show.
Fans Respond to the Call
Even though a boycott of CBS would impact more than 100 NFL games this upcoming football season, many fans have already signaled their intention to follow through on the boycott.
“I read a remark here from someone yesterday that if we boycott CBS we might miss some NFL games. I guess the question becomes what are your priorities? Support the freedom of speech and send that message, or watch a football game. You decide,” one fan wrote in a post on X.
“Because of this decision, I am boycotting the NFL on CBS for the next 2 months I refuse to watch any NFL games, whether they be Jaguars games or other games, on CBS for the next 60 days,” another fan wrote.
“I’ve already been boycotting them. There’s nothing on CBS I watch except football and I can live without that too! Their programming is awful and has been for a long time,” someone else wrote.
“I cut Paramount out last year and I have no reason to watch anything on CBS, I will boycott any NFL games they show and just watch the highlights and stick to another network for the NFL!” another fan added.
“Yes indeed, boycott CBS, and if any interesting NFL games on CBS, I will bypass watching them! The NFL was the only reason I watched CBS,” someone else commented.
We’ll have to see whether or not this boycott hurts CBS this upcoming football season.
About Dave Kelsey
Contributing author to The Comeback.