EXCLUSIVE: Pop TV will carry exclusive next-day encores of CBS’ The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, the most watched program in late-night. Starting next Tuesday, Feb, 25, the previous night’s episode of The Late Show will air on Pop at 9 AM ET/PT.

The news comes on the heels of the recent launch of next-day repeats of The Late Show‘s CBS late-night companion, The Late Late Show with James Corden, on Comedy Central at 7:30 AM, paired with next-day encores of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Both CBS late-night programs are produced by CBS TV Studios.

I hear the two deals were on parallel tracks. ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish outlined plans to have Late Late Show reruns on Viacom’s Comedy Central as an early post-merger synergy example in December. When the plan was hatched for The Late Show repeats to run on Pop TV, the basic cable network was still controlled by CBS. Last month, it moved to the Viacom side of ViacomCBS, becoming part of ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks’ Entertainment & Youth Brands division run by Chris McCarthy, which also includes Comedy Central.

Pop

Since CBS Corp. in 2013 acquired 50% in TVGN — later rebranded as Pop TV — the cable network has aired reruns of several CBS programs, most notably daytime dramas Young & the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful and reality series Big Brother and Love Island.

CBS Corp. took full control of the network in March 2019. A couple of months later, Pop TV and the CBS network collaborated on the pickup of One Day at a Time, which became a Pop TV original for its upcoming third season with repeats set to air on CBS over the summer.

The rationale behind the decision to put Late Show repeats on Pop is that the late-night talker often influences the pop culture conversation the next morning, and, as its name suggests, Pop TV has a pop culture bent.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which has thrived during the Donald Trump presidency, tackles politics as well as entertainment, business, music and technology topics. Headlined by Comedy Central alum Colbert and featuring bandleader Jon Batiste with his band Stay Human, the show is broadcast from the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York.

Pop TV’s slate of original scripted series also includes Schitt’s Creek, Florida Girls, Flack and Best Intentions.