CBS has issued copyright takedown notices aimed at uploading Stephen Colbert’s surprise return to the Michigan mini-TV show after an online backlash.
The Paramount-owned network has been issuing notices against YouTubers who reposted Colbert’s appearance on “Only in Monroe,” the Monroe Community Media public access program the comedian hosted once in 2015 before taking over CBS’s Late Show.
CBS Studios financed and produced the episode that aired on Friday and went viral over the weekend. Some fans complained online about receiving notices to delete their pirated versions of the app from their accounts.
CBS quickly backtracked as critics accused the company of censorship. News of the decision was first reported by Variety.
“Stephen Colbert’s return to Monroe in the ‘Only in Monroe’ episode was funded and produced by CBS Studios and featured on Stephen Colbert’s YouTube channel in partnership with Monroe Community Media and ‘The Late Show’s’ YouTube channels,” a CBS spokesperson told The Post.
“As is our regular practice, we are sending copyright notices to unauthorized websites that post copyrighted content from CBS and our network/studio talent like Stephen Colbert.
“However, in this episode, we have decided to suspend the continuation of the operation of this general sector until further review,” concluded the spokesman.
The takedown notices appeared to be a routine copyright enforcement by a major media company seeking to protect the intellectual property it owns and manages, according to former CBS executive Derek Reisfield, who founded MarketWatch.
“It appears that the CBS Legal Department was following their normal procedures,” he told The Post, adding that the networks are constantly moving to protect copyrighted material posted online without authorization.
Reisfield questioned why Colbert partnered with CBS on the production of Monroe in the first place.
“The real question in my mind is why Stephen Colbert didn’t go it alone and have a clean break with CBS,” Reisfield told The Post.
Colbert’s Monroe appearance was designed as a temporary return to the stripped-down roots of public access that bookended his 11-year tenure at CBS.
The host made her debut on “Only in Monroe” a few months before she landed “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” in what many consider to be the strangest practice for network television.
His return last week came less than 24 hours after his last CBS broadcast.
“As I ended up here in Monroe, Michigan, I spent 11 years as the main host of ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ on CBS, which ended last night,” he said.
“It’s been 23 weird hours without being on TV,” Colbert added with his trademark self-deprecation.
The funnyman couldn’t resist delivering zingers to his former business bosses, repeatedly poking fun at CBS and Paramount during the low-budget production of Monroe.
Thanking Monroe Community Media for giving him airtime less than a day after leaving the “Late Show,” Colbert joked that he was excited to appear “before they even got Paramount.”
Later, after noting that the small public-access operation “lost a lot of money doing this show tonight,” he enthused: “Now I know how CBS felt.”
He even poked fun at the network’s streaming struggles while explaining to viewers that they could watch online, saying streaming was something he “promised not to read about when I was at CBS” before adding: “CBS obviously decided not to read about it either.”
Special Monroe looks from Jack White, Jeff Daniels, Steve Buscemi, Byron Allen and Eminem.
Illegal YouTube uploads quickly exploded across the Internet — in some cases outperforming Colbert’s official uploads.
One rerun from a channel called “Desktop” racked up more than 620,000 views, according to Variety, compared to about 392,000 views on Colbert’s official page at the time.
Reisfield said CBS may have backed off because the idea of a police raid to say goodbye in a public-access way wasn’t worth the headache — especially if Colbert continues to be popular with viewers.
“I think the general public, and especially Colbert’s fans, feel closer and more connected to Colbert than CBS,” he said.
“My guess takes the whole scheme of things, especially since this is a one-off production and CBS’ relationship with Colbert is over, someone at the company decided it wasn’t worth it.
Reisfield predicted that the comedian could eventually succeed outside the traditional television system by using his large audience directly on the Internet.
“He’s got a lot of fans, he’s devoted and he’s probably going to launch something successfully using social media,” Reisfield told The Post. “He has to be a businessman and also a comedian, it’s very possible for him.”
The Post has sought comment from Monroe Community Media.
