CBS is not suppressing public access to Stephen Colbert’s ‘Only in Monroe’
Yes, it’s true, Paramount/CBS has issued takedown notices to YouTube users who uploaded pirated copies of Stephen Colbert’s recent return to hosting an episode of the public-access series “Only in Monroe.” But the reason isn’t as nefarious as you might think: It’s simply because, yes, the show is copyrighted and already has a home: Colbert’s brand new YouTube channel.
Colbert launched his new YouTube channel a day ago, and so far he only has one video online: his May 22 appearance on “Only in Monroe,” Monroe Community Media’s public show. Here’s the thing: Others on YouTube beat him to it with their own uploads, including a site called “The Desk,” which has 620,621 views of Colbert’s “Only in Monroe” period. By comparison, Colbert’s YouTube page has approximately 392,486 views of the same video.
In other words, this is standard copyright procedure; the same kind of takedown that Paramount/CBS would perform if you posted an episode of “Matlock.” (Why doesn’t Monroe Community Media issue the takedowns? They don’t have the legal recourse.) Instead of watching the rips, the official video is on @Colbert and has also been shared via collaborations by Monroe Community Media’s YouTube page and “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” page, so it’s easily available to anyone who wants to watch.
Insiders say Paramount/CBS isn’t trying to silence Colbert’s “Only in Monroe”; the company actually financed the production of his episode, which featured music by Jack White and a guest star role by Jeff Daniels. (And that’s why “The Late Show” owns the copyright to this episode of “Only in Monroe” and has taken the lead in protecting copyright.)
Colbert famously launched “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” by hosting an episode of “Only in Monroe” for the first time in July 2015 from the public access station’s studios in Monroe, Michigan. So it was only fitting that he would bookend his ‘Late Show’ stint with another visit to the city.
If Variety While noting in writing about the return of “Only in Monroe,” Colbert explained it this way: “Since I was last here in Monroe, Michigan, I have been the main host of ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ on CBS for eleven years, which came to an end last night,” he said at the start of Friday’s 11:35 p.m. local broadcast. “It’s been an awful 23 hours without being on TV, so I’m grateful to be here at Monroe Community Media before they too are acquired by Paramount.”
Eminem, Steve Buscemi (in a commercial for Monroe’s Buscemi’s Pizza and Subs, which he insists has nothing to do with him) and Byron Allen (via FaceTime call) also appeared in the surprise episode. And “Only in Monroe” regular hosts Michelle Baumann and former Miss America Kaye Lani Rae Rafko Wilson were also back, as they appeared in 2015.
Here is Colbert’s “Only in Monroe” episode, via @Colbert:
