CBS is canceling Stephen Colbert's The Late Show and leaving the format entirely. It's the end of an institution at CBS, first kicked off by David Letterman in 1993 when CBS infamously poached Letterman from NBC. However, the end of this era for CBS was utterly predictable, and Colbert bears the responsibility.

I should confess at the outset that at one point, I loved Stephen Colbert. In college, his The Colbert Report played right after Jon Stewart's The Daily Show. The faux-conservative talk show host schtick was great, and everyone in my dorms and friend circles loved it. We quoted him, bought the books, and watched every night.

Then the bizarre thing happened when he went to CBS and took over The Late Show starting in 2015. Whether it was no longer having access to Comedy Central's writers or simply that Colbert lacked a personality outside the one he'd formed on The Colbert Report, he just wasn't funny anymore.

It's been shocking to see how unfunny the guy has been since he took over The Late Show. In my view, ending his version of The Late Show is a mercy killing. It was little more than a therapy hour for Democrats, with no connection to entertainment or comedy.

You can see this in the differences between how the great Johnny Carson left, versus Colbert. It's instructive.

For a generation, Johnny Carson was the most important man on television. He cut across all lines and helped bring new comedians and voices to people's screens. If you were an up-and-coming comedian, you had to get on Carson to make it big. And many did.

When Carson left, that tradition began to shift as well. While I was in college, if a comedian wanted to make it big, they had to get a Comedy Central special. That would send them to new heights. And because so many of us were watching that along with Dave Chappelle, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert, it all worked together.

Colbert's legacy is different. Comediants aren't upset he's losing his job. Democratic politicians, on the other hand, are extremely upset. Adam Schiff, Elizabeth Warren, and others all immediately blasted the move.

It's a reflection of what the show represents: a sounding board for Democratic politicians. They liked the easy interviews and the free publicity they received by appearing on his show. Colbert was a walk in the park.

The obituaries for the show in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter mention Colbert being at the top of the ratings, but that's not entirely accurate. Variety noted earlier this year that the new king of late night wasn't on basic television; he's on cable.

Greg Gutfeld at Fox News crushes Colbert and all the other Late-Night hosts by a sizable margin.

Variety wrote in February, "Existing on cable news, hosting a celebrity-free show devoted to hot-button issues and cracking jokes with a withering sarcasm where his competitors are sunny or loopy, Gutfeld is an unlikely king of late night. With a panel format instead of the one-on-one setup of his peers, "Gutfeld!" features a hodgepodge of regulars who were once ubiquitous until they tilted rightward, such as comedian Rob Schneider and Vincent Gallo. His rivals, he says, are losing audience share because they adhere to "a very narrow, agreed-upon groupthink" and, therefore, can "never be funny."

They added, "Despite being 60 years old and a Trump stan, he is attracting a younger and more politically diverse audience than his counterparts. In fact, "Gutfeld!" is beating "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert," "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," "Late Night With Seth Meyers," "Real Time With Bill Maher" and "The Daily Show" by every measure and is uniquely poised to ride the Trump 2.0 wave."

That last sentence is key: Fox News built a late-night show that can survive both Republican and Democratic administrations. Colbert couldn't pivot, and he was losing to a guy on cable television.

CBS doesn't have an answer for that, and glancing at their competitors besides Fox News, they all look the same.

As for Colbert, I have no idea what he'll do. His funniest moments came when he was working as act on Comedy Central, building a defined audience. On that show, he regularly talked to everyone across the political spectrum.

On CBS, with the mask removed, he could only offer up empty platitudes while a regular cast of Democratic elected officials sat across from him. Greg Gutfeld has proven there's a way to carve out a large audience.

CBS, Colbert, and the rest seem unwilling to explore the obvious paths staring them right in the face. They know what worked in the past. They know what is working now. However, they refuse to act on the knowledge that would help them build a hit.

In that respect, the end of The Late Show wasn't a financial decision; it was an executive choice to end the disaster of being irrelevant. The downfall was a choice by CBS, Colbert, and most others in the format. They could opt to be better, but they don't.

From a former fan, all I have to say to Colbert now is: good riddance. It'd be nice if you were funny again. The talent is clearly there. But this was a choice—a bad one.