How CBS Scored Colbert's 'Late Show' a $16 Million Tax Break

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Like most networks and studios, CBS reaps millions of dollars in tax breaks from New York State each year that help lure TV and movie shoots. But the network seems to have broken new ground with a $16 million package revealed July 23 for The Late Show — which already calls New York’s theater district home — when Stephen Colbert takes over as host in 2015.

When Colbert was hired, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo approached CBS chief Leslie Moonves to see what it would take to keep The Late Show. Unlike NBC’s The Tonight Show, which moved from Burbank to 30 Rockefeller Center for Jimmy Fallon in February, Late Show never has qualified for a piece of the $430 million spent by New York State on movie and TV incentives each year. So the governor had to look elsewhere for funding.

The first $11 million is coming from the New York State Excelsior Jobs Program, which typically supports the manufacturing and service industries. “Excelsior incentives are targeted to financial services, manufacturing, software development and scientific research,” says Marilyn Rubin, a municipal tax specialist who teaches at John Jay College in New York. “Late-night shows weren’t on the list [in the legislation], but there is a catch-all category that extends these incentives to any industry with significant potential for private-sector economic growth.”

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For its part, CBS is guaranteeing at least 200 high-paying, permanent jobs and an investment of $100 million over five years, including renovating the Ed Sullivan Theater in midtown Manhattan. The state is providing CBS with an additional $5 million “performance” grant, in addition to the Excelsior incentives, to cover some of the costs of the renovations. That will be paid by the state after CBS spends that money and provides documentation.

Full Article: The Hollywood Reporter.