After Colbert-CBS Rift, Interview With Texas Senate Candidate James Talarico Draws 85M Views Across YouTube & Social
EXCLUSIVE – An interview by Stephen Colbert with U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico intended for broadcast on CBS but instead posted only online has now drawn 85 million views across YouTube and social media.
Stats on online viewing were provided to Deadline by Tubular Labs. Over the past 72 hours, the company said, 1,320 video uploads featuring Colbert and Talarico have been registered across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. The videos have generated more than 8 million engagements, with total views counting any viewing session lasting a minimum of 2 seconds.
The most-watched individual clip, notably, is the full 15-minute interview. It has collected more than 7.5 million views, more than twice the daily average viewing level of Colbert’s YouTube channel.
On YouTube, Colbert’s own page has accounted for 39% of views related to the interview. On TikTok, it’s 53%.
On Tuesday, Colbert voiced objections to what he says was pressure by CBS lawyers to not air the interview with Talarico, who is running in the Democratic Senate primary in Texas. Network lawyers later insisted that they had not told Colbert he couldn’t air the segment.
The backdrop of the clash is a series of moves by CBS parent Paramount, which paid a settlement to President Trump last summer to resolve a lawsuit he had filed over a 60 Minutes segment. The $16 million settlement was followed soon thereafter by the merger of Skydance and Paramount gaining approval from federal regulators. Paramount is currently jockeying with Netflix in an effort to succeed in acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery and a similar regulatory dance is under way.
Pressure is mounting on talk shows in multiple dayparts to adhere to long-un-enforced federal rules stipulating “equal time” between political parties featured on the air. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has made the rule a key priority, confirming this week that an enforcement action is underway at ABC’s The View. NBC also has entered the crosshairs of the FCC over a sketch featuring Kamala Harris on Saturday Night Live.
Along with the groundswell of online viewing, Talarico’s campaign raised $2.5 million in the wake of the clash between Colbert and CBS.
