Late Show UK

The Colbert Report has been broadcasting shows from Philadelphia this week and the Multichannel News website says “from April 14 through April 17, The Colbert Report averaged 1.5 million viewers from 11:30 p.m. to noon, according to Nielsen Media Research data”. The appearances of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards probably helped the ratings along slightly. When Hillary Clinton appeared on the show, she said to Stephen “I just love solving problems”. Barack Obama appeared via satellite. Also, don’t forget The Colbert Report should be coming to FX UK in May. An unofficial Colbert fansite has posted some further details, including the claim More 4 had the chance to buy the rights for the show, but they didn’t want it.

Multichannel News - “Colbert Takes Philly”
The Caucus - “Clinton on Colbert Report (And Edwards and Obama, Too)”
No Fact Zone - “More on the UK version of ‘The Colbert Report’ coming soon”

Due to the start of British Summer Time from the early hours of 30th March, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno will now go back to its 11pm (UK time) slot on CNBC Monday-Friday. The weekend editions will remain at 8pm (UK time).

David Beckham will be on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno next Tuesday (1st April). This episode is scheduled to be going out on CNBC Europe on the 4th April. Victoria Beckham made her debut on The Tonight Show in July last year.

Further reading - Times Online - “LA Galaxy no limit for ambitious David Beckham”
Late Show UK - Guest Listings

Colbert will be on tour with his Comedy Central show, The Colbert Report, next month. The FoxInsider post on FXUK.com says he will be going “specifically to Philadelphia to report on, mock and generally abuse the shenanigans that will be the Democrat party’s Pennsylvanian primary”. The post on FoxInsider also says The Colbert Report will be coming to FX UK in May - so we now have a (sort of) fixed date for The Colbert Report on UK television.

FoxInsider (FXUK.com) - “Colbert On Tour”

Conan O’Brien will be stopping by to appear on The Tonight Show on Thursday 27th March, along with Anderson Cooper. Conan will, of course, be taking over The Tonight Show next year when Jay Leno hands over the reigns. Don’t forget to tune in! The show will be airing on CNBC for us folk in the UK on Tuesday 1st April at 11pm (the show returns to the 11pm UK timeslot because British Summer Time begins at the end of March). Conan was also a guest on The Tonight Show on the 27th April last year.

If you missed the historic Friday Night With Jonathan Ross interview with Michael Parkinson on Sport Relief last night, the BBC have put up some highlights of the interview - including Michael Parkinson discussing his meetings with Mohammed Ali and what he thinks of David Beckham.

YouTube - “Jonathan Ross & Sir Michael Parkinson on David Beckham”
YouTube - “Jonathan Ross & Sir Michael Parkinson on Mohammed Ali”

The Colbert Report looks set to be coming to FX for UK TV audiences very soon if a pending deal goes through. The official FX UK website reports “It looks as though FX UK are about to close the deal with MTV to bring Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert and The Colbert Report to the UK for the summer”. The post on the official FX site just says “launch date to follow”. We have been running a petition to get Colbert on a UK TV channel for a while now, so this really is excellent news. Watch this space. There might be a bit of irony if/when he comes to FX - the majority of his act is making fun of Fox News, etc. If you can’t wait, head on over to the new look official website for The Colbert Report for show clips and more - click here.

FX UK - FoxInsider - “Colbert For Fox”
The Colbert Report Official Website (New Look)

There’s no Friday Night With Jonathan Ross on BBC One tonight, because of Sport Relief 2008. However, there will be a special Jonathan Ross interview with ex-chat show host Michael Parkinson, which should be very interesting, and the BBC describe the event as “an eagerly-anticipated showdown of the TV chat show kings”. Sport Relief kicks off on BBC One tonight at 7pm and will continue into the small hours of Saturday morning. I believe the Jonathan Ross interview is going to be on after the Ten O’Clock News, but don’t hold me to that.

BBC Sport Relief - “Sport Relief all set for star-studded show”
Sport Relief - Donate

It has been confirmed from the Duty Office at ITV that Saturday Night Live will no longer be shown on ITV4. Saturday Night Live launched on ITV4 on 4th November 2006 with much publicity, shortly after the Late Show With David Letterman got dropped from the channel. The ITV Duty Office says “there are no plans to show any more episodes of Saturday Night Live”. Saturday Night Live used to air in the early hours of the morning when it was on ITV4, so if the show was deemed unsuccessful on the channel, this would probably be the reason why. ITV4 did a similar thing with Letterman, where they scheduled the Late Show for the ‘graveyard shift’ as well. Here’s hoping another channel will pick up SNL, and let’s hope it’s given a decent timeslot - like Diva TV picked up the Late Show.

Due to Daylight Saving Time starting for the US last weekend, all Monday-Friday episodes of The Tonight Show With Jay Leno now air at 10pm instead of 11pm. The 10pm airings will stay until the end of Daylight Saving Time. The change has been brought it to allow the NBC Nightly News to be streamed live on CNBC from the US - which now airs at 10.30pm UK time. Weekend episodes of The Tonight Show and Late Night stay at 8pm and 8.45pm respectively. Keep checking the Upcoming Shows box in the sidebar for guest details, or check out the Guest Listings section for US (NBC) airdates.

Late Show UK - Where To Watch

Diva TV schedules for the weekend Late Show With David Letterman reruns have changed slightly. According to the Diva TV website, the reruns will now air at 10pm on Saturdays and Sundays, instead of 11pm. This weekend’s reruns are “Martin Short, Amy Ryan” (on Saturday at 10pm) and “Kate Walsh, Jason Sudeikis, OK Go with Bonerama” (on Sunday at 10pm). The Monday-Friday airtimes remain unchanged - they will still be shown at 9pm. The Where To Watch page at Late Show UK has been updated to reflect the new weekend schedules, and don’t forget to keep an eye on the Upcoming Shows box in the sidebar for all the upcoming schedules for Diva TV airings.

Diva TV - Late Show With David Letterman - Episode Details | Diva TV - Listings By Day
Late Show UK - Where To Watch (Updated with the new schedule information)

The new programming block on CNBC Europe called ‘CNBC Life’ will start this weekend (23rd and 24th February). There have been rumours about what this new programming block might include, but it is now confirmed which shows will be part of it, and when the themed block will be on air. Guardian.co.uk say CNBC will air “sports, entertainment, travel and current affairs programmes under the CNBC Life banner between 1pm and 10pm every Saturday and Sunday from February 23″.

In essence, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and Late Night With Conan O’Brien will remain unchanged, as they will still be shown on weekends in their normal 8pm and 8.45pm (UK) timeslots respectively. These will be unedited - whereas the airings of Leno in the week are shortened to fill a 30 minute timeslot. Conan will continue not to air Monday-Friday, and will only be shown in the ‘best of the week’ slot on Saturdays and Sundays (8.45pm UK time). CNBC Life is being marketed as ‘luxury’ programming, including CNBC Sports, travel shows and spending programmes. Listings for this weekend can be found in full on the Radio Times website (free registration required).

CNBC Europe - CNBC Life (Official Page)
Guardian.co.uk - “CNBC Europe to screen ‘luxury’ shows”
Late Show UK - Where To Watch