We all know the joy of a long weekend, but Stephen Colbert is opting for a short one as his The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is airing a special live episode on Sunday, January 26, at 11:35 pm ET/8:35 pm PT on CBS. This is all part of a special day of programming for the network around the NFL’s AFC Championship game.
The NFL playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs, taking place at 6:30 pm ET/3:30 pm PT on January 26 on CBS, is expected to be one of the most watched TV events of the year, and CBS is hoping to keep viewers tuned to their channel with a series of special programs following the game. Immediately following the football coverage, CBS is airing the premiere episode of its anticipated new medical drama Watson, which stars Morris Chestnut as Dr. John Watson (of Sherlock Holmes & Watson) branching out on his own.
After a break for local news in most areas, the live episode of The Late Show will then take place. For this special episode, in addition to his usual humorous commentary on current events, Colbert is welcoming the University of Colorado head coach, NFL Hall of Famer and two-time Super Bowl champion Deion Sanders as a guest. Country star Kane Brown is also set to give a performance during the show.
With the live show airing on Sunday, viewers are going to have five straight nights of The Late Show, as the talk show is planning to air new episodes from Monday, January 27, through Thursday, January 30, as it does during a usual week.
One thing to note with all of this special programming on CBS on January 26, there is not going to be any episode of 60 Minutes this week. The news program is being preempted by the football game and then CBS’s subsequent special programming is going to take up any time that 60 Minutes might have otherwise been squeezed into.
To watch The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s live episode on January 26, you must have access to your local CBS station. That can come via a traditional pay-TV provider, a TV antenna, a live TV streaming service (i.e. Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV) or Paramount Plus with Showtime, which lets you access a live simulcast of your local CBS station. If you don’t have any of these services or you just miss the live show when it’s on, you can stream The Late Show on-demand with any Paramount Plus subscription.