Les Moonves, chairman and chief executive officer of the CBS Corporation, responded to criticism that the network was replacing David Letterman, a liberal comedian and longtime host of the weeknight Late Show program, with Stephen Colbert, another liberal comic and host of The Colbert Report, who is likely to continue making fun of conservatives and Republicans when he leaves his Comedy Channel program to replace Letterman sometime in 2015.

“Ironically, Stephen Colbert is much more moderate than people think he is,” Moonves said on Wednesday. "He's a great social commentator, and that's sort of what we want. That's sort of what David Letterman has been."