• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, Yesterday

Byron Allen appears to be the main beneficiary of CBS’s decision to abandon late-night.

After “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” goes off the air in May, the two hours that defined CBS late-night for 33 years -- 11:37 p.m.-1:37 a.m. Eastern -- will both be given over to first-run syndicated shows produced and distributed by Allen’s company, Allen Media Group.

One of the shows, “Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen,” has already been playing a fill-in role in the second hour of CBS late-night.

The show took over the time slot last September when CBS canceled “After Midnight,” a failed, cheaply made show in which comedians wisecracked about viral videos.

Now, “Comics Unleashed” is getting bumped up to the 11:37 p.m.-12:37 a.m. hour to replace “Colbert” starting Friday, May 22, the day after Stephen Colbert says good-bye, CBS announced on Monday.

Another comedy-based series from Allen’s company, “Funny You Should Ask,” will then take up residence in the 12:37 a.m.-1:37 a.m. hour on weeknights.

The two shows represent the end of a late-night era on CBS that started in August 1993 with the debut of “Late Show with David Letterman.”

“Letterman” remained in the lead-off hour until May 2015. Colbert’s show premiered in September 2015.

The other shows that defined CBS late-night were “The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” and “The Late Late Show with James Corden.”

The arrival of the low-budget “After Midnight” was the beginning of the end for CBS late-night, which will now be made up of shows which -- like “After Midnight” -- cost a fraction of what CBS had to pay to produce two traditional late-night entertainment shows five days a week.

On “Comics Unleashed,” a group of comedians deliver monologues on a premise or subject provided by Allen, who acts as the show’s host. 

On the game show “Funny You Should Ask,” comedians answer questions posed by host Jon Kelley -- and two contestants have to decide whether the answers they give are true or false.

Neither of the two Allen shows are new. “Comics Unleashed” premiered in first-run syndication way back in 2006. “Funny You Should Ask” premiered in 2017. Both shows have been running on CBS-owned TV stations for years. 

The new deal for the shows to run in late-night on CBS is being described in the trade press as a “time buy agreement.”

In another departure from traditional late-night TV, each episode of “Comics Unleashed” and “Funny You Should Ask” is a half-hour, which means two episodes of each of them will air back-to-back in each hour.

Ever since the cancellation of “Colbert” was announced last July, CBS has positioned the decision as “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late-night.”

Later, Paramount TV Media Chair George Cheeks said “the economics made it a challenge for us to keep going. The challenge in late-night is that the advertising marketplace is in significant secular decline.”

So now, CBS late-night -- if not the whole concept of late-night TV generally -- is entering a new, post late-night era, and Byron Allen is having the last laugh.

In a prepared statement, Allen expressed his understandable delight at having his two shows on deck for nightly exposure on CBS stations.

“I truly appreciate CBS’ confidence in me by picking up our two-hour comedy block of ‘Comics Unleashed’ and ‘Funny You Should Ask,’ because the world can never have enough laughter,” Allen said.