Stephen Colbert will succeed David Letterman as host of "The Late Show," CBS announced Thursday, one week after Letterman told his audience that he would retire sometime in 2015. CBS said Colbert had signed a five-year contract to helm the iconic late-night broadcast. Colbert, 49, has been the host of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" since 2005. Will Colbert remain in his Comedy Central character? No. Colbert said in a statement, "I won't be doing the new show in character, so we'll all get to find out how much of him was me. I'm looking forward to it." CBS said "specific creative elements" would be determined and announced at a later date.

Comedy Central also praised Colbert on Thursday, saying, "We look forward to the next eight months of the ground-breaking 'Colbert Report' and wish

OPTIONS:
- CBS the very best."
- Colbert the very best."
- Comedy Central the very best."
- David Letterman the very best."
- Letterman the very best."
- Stephen Colbert the very best."
- The Colbert Report the very best."
- The Late Show the very best."


Colbert the very best."