Stephen Colbert will replace David Letterman on the 'Late Show'.
The 49-year-old host, who currently fronts 'The Colbert Report', will be taking over from the 66-year-old star on the CBS show when he retires next year.
Stephen said in a statement: "Simply being a guest on David Letterman's show has been a highlight of my career. I never dreamed that I would follow in his footsteps, though everyone in late night follows Dave's lead. I'm thrilled and grateful that CBS chose me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go grind a gap in my front teeth."
Stephen hosts his Comedy Central show, which he has fronted since 2005, in the character of a conservative cable news anchor and, although the late-night programme will finish its run in eight months time, it is not yet known whether his alter-ego will live on.
A spokesman for CBS said: "Stephen Colbert is one of the most inventive and respected forces on television."
Meanwhile, David announced last week he was stepping down from his hosting duties on the flagship show, which he has fronted for 20 years.
David is the longest-serving late night talk show host in TV history after fronting NBC's 'Late Night' for 11 years, before taking on the 'Late Show' in 1993.

Britain's Princess Anne toured young people's accommodation in Norfolk yesterday (09.04.14).
The Princess Royal looked around YMCA Norfolk's $4.5 million MyPlace centre, which provides 40 self-contained flats for young people, as well as training and support facilities, in Norwich, East England, and during her visit she got to see a cookery training class in action, as well as meeting staff and residents and unveiling a commemorative plaque.
During her hour-long tour, Anne also looked inside the flat of 19-year-old Paige Murphy, who talked to the princess about the support she has received from the YMCA.
Paige said: "I have been here for seven months and it provides a breath of fresh air every teenager needs. I told the princess about my college child care training and about my work in a canteen and how the YMCA has supported me. It was a memorable occasion and one that I am sure I will be telling my children about in years to come."
Anne also popped into the training kitchen to see support worker Jane Graham lead a session on cost-effective ways to decorate a cake as part of a six-week Joy of Food course.
Jane said: "The course aims to help teach the young people basic cooking skills and how to prepare good food economically. We cover things such as making a stir fry, roast dinner and pizza as well as food hygiene. The Princess was genuinely interested in the young people who were involved and what we do with them. She spoke to each and every one of them."

Elle Fanning "loves" Angelina Jolie.
The 16-year-old actress stars opposite the brunette beauty in 'Maleficent' and she says they were "drawn" to one another from the minute they met.
She said: "That first time [we met], I didn't know I was gonna see her that day. It was a surprise and they were like, 'Angelina's here - she's in the studio.'
"I turned the corner and there she was, we were drawn to each other! We gave each other the biggest hug ever and she shook my shoulders and she said, 'We're gonna have the best time working together!' and that was the first thing, and our relationship got even better from our first time. I love her!"
Elle - who plays Princess Aurora, AKA Sleeping Beauty in the re-imagining of the fairytale - thinks audiences will love the "super" costumes in the movie, and says Angelina's outfits as the titular villain are particularly dramatic and impressive.
She told 'Access Hollywood': "Angelina has so many all these capes and a lot of leather things - it's very fun, For mine, I wore a lot of little peasant dresses because I live in the cottage. So a lot of pastel pinks and blues.
"I do have a very fancy princess dress I wear at the end, which is very good."

Kate Upton is worried about where her next Sports Illustrated shoot will take place. .
The blonde beauty doesn't know where the publication will send her in the future but after posing in zero gravity conditions earlier this year, where she sported a tiny gold bikini, and strutting her stuff in Antarctica's snow-covered cliffs in 2013, she is concerned about what the future holds.
Talking on chat show 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' on Wednesday (09.04.14), she said: "I'm honestly a little bit scared to get a call in from Sports Illustrated, what to do next year because I went to Antarctica, I did zero gravity, like where are they gonna send me?"
During the zero gravity shoot Kate is pictured in same conditions which astronauts use to train for their missions into space for the magazine's 50th edition.
The images were taken at the Space Coast Regional Airport at Cape Canaveral in Florida but she admits there are challenges for the crew during the shoot too, with one member vomiting.
Discussing the shoot, show host Jimmy said: "I would be vomiting through the whole thing."
She replied: "That works for some people, it's like stomach flu. You make it go away."
Jimmy then asked, "Did anybody get sick?" Prompting Kate to explain: "Actually one person did. It was really tricky because they were barfing, zipping it up, because when we hit zero gravity all the barf is floating."

Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan wanted their wedding to be filmed for 'Total Divas' because their fans "deserve" to see their big day.
The WWE Diva is marrying her fiancé on Friday (11.04.14) and although they took their time to decide whether or not to allow cameras from the E! reality TV show to record their nuptials, ultimately they wanted to share their happiness with the public who support them.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, Brie said: "The wedding is going to be filmed for 'Total Divas' so people will see it. It was a hard decision for Daniel and I to first make, because we were both like, 'Gosh, this is the most intimate moment of our whole lives, besides our future children being born.' But then we thought our fans between the WWE Universe and the E! audience want to see our wedding and we're going to give that to them, so we're really excited about it."
Brie and Daniel - who got engaged last September - will tie the knot in front of 150 guests and the stunning competitor revealed there will be a number of WWE Superstars and Divas in attendance.
The brunette beauty - who watched her future husband be crowned WWE World Heavyweight Champion at 'WrestleMania XXX' last Sunday night (06.04.14) - said: "It's going to be a big wedding for us, there's going to be around 150 people and that seems big to us. When I made my list for my family all of a sudden there was 70 people. I was like, 'Oh my gosh, 70 family members!?' That's because I'm Mexican/Italian - I have a big family!
"There aren't going to be a whole bunch of wrestlers but there will be some, there's going to be about 10 to 20, depending on whether they all can make it, we're hoping they can."
Brie - who competes with her twin sister Nikki as tag team The Bella Twins - will be visiting the UK in May on the WWE tour and she can't wait to come to Britain as Mrs. Daniel Bryan for the first time.
She quipped: "What's really funny is that when we come over to the UK in May I will be Mrs. Bryan. How cool is that going to be! I'm so excited."
Tickets for the 'WWE Live WrestleMania Revenge' tour are available from Bookingsdirect.com.

Oscar Pistorius has admitted he had "no reason" to fire the shots that killed Reeva Steenkamp.
The Paralympian faced a second day of questioning in his murder trial in South Africa today (10.04.14), and he accepted that he had no excuse for firing the four shots at his toilet door which resulted in the death of his girlfriend.
Towards the end of the morning's proceedings, the chief prosecutor said: "We know for a fact you had no reason to shoot, objectively."
The 27-year-old sprinter's defence has been that he mistook Reeva for an intruder when he heard noises coming from his bathroom window before hearing the toilet door slam shut.
However, he appeared to accept defeat when he agreed with the prosecution, saying: "That is correct."
He has repeatedly insisted that he believed there was a burglar in his home and claims after he went to get his firearm from his bedroom, where he believed Reeva was still in bed, he shouted to her to phone the police, and fired the weapon "by accident" while yelling at the intruder through the door.
Oscar said: "If Reeva had come out or she had spoken to me I wouldn't have fired."
The prosecutor also revisited a number of Whatsapp phone messages that had been exchanged between the pair in which Reeva stated that she sometimes felt scared of the star and that he had "picked on" her "incessantly" following a trip together.
The Paralympic athlete - who claims he didn't have his prosthetic legs on during the incident and was walking on his stumps - apologised to his victim's family yesterday (09.04.14), but her mother June Steenkamp has dismissed his words, insisting she was "unmoved" by his comments.
She said: "It won't bring my daughter back. We just want to know the truth."
Oscar fatally shot Reeva, 29, through a closed toilet cubicle in his home in Pretoria, South Africa in the early hours of February 14 last year and faces 25 years in jail if found guilty of premeditated murder, according to Channel 4 News.

Anne Hathaway got caught in a riptide in Hawaii.
The 'Les Miserables' actress went for a dip in the ocean during her vacation in January and started to panic when she couldn't get back to shore, although she knew the situation was under control and she wasn't going to drown.
Talking on 'The Tonight Show' with Jimmy Fallon yesterday (09.04.14), she said: "I went for a swim in Hawaii and I have been swimming in the ocean my whole life. It has never been a problem for me. But I think I was maybe a little arrogant, and got caught in a rip and I couldn't get out.
"I had been swimming for like 10 minutes ... I wasn't being pulled out [completely], I just couldn't get in [to shore]. It would've been really scary if I had been pulled out [to sea].
"But I was just stuck 400 or 500 yards out. I was like 'OK, I'm just gonna float for a second and hopefully rest and OK, no, this isn't working'."
When Anne's husband Adam Shulman spotted her, he made the situation all the more dramatic for onlookers by screeching that she was dying.
She explained: "My husband sees me and he's just like [gasps] ... But trying to communicate to your husband who's 500 yards out that I'm sort of not OK [is difficult]... [I was thinking] 'Don't run out there's photographers, you just made this so much more dramatic!'
"He's like, 'My wife is dying', and I'm like 'I'm not dying, I just don't know how to communicate this to you!' "
Anne injured her foot during the incident and was touched when Adam affectionately kissed it better, despite knew photographers were watching.
She added: "I got to land eventually, and I cut my foot and that turned into a whole other internet thing ... My husband went to get band aids and we had this moment where he was sitting there holding my foot.
"We knew we were having our photograph taken,and we knew that if the photograph wasn't being taken he would have given my foot a kiss. I watched my husband make a decision about what kind of mAn he was, and he was like, 'I don't care, Mwah!' " 

Elle Macpherson says becoming a stepmother has been the "biggest gift".
The supermodel-turned-lingerie designer inherited three more children as a result of her marriage to billionaire Jeffrey Soffer in August 2013, and she treats them exactly the same as her own sons, Flynn, 16, and Cy, 11, whom she shares with ex-husband Arpad Busson.
She said: "Becoming a stepmother has been the biggest gift and I cherish my relationship with all five children. I think love does wonders for every woman. Being a mother is my greatest achievement and my sons are a credit to themselves."
The statuesque beauty - who earned the nickname 'The Body' for her stunning figure as a model - has no qualms about recently turning 50 and admits the milestone birthday passed without much contemplation as she is so happy living her life.
She explained to Australia's WHO magazine: "I never really gave much thought to turning 50. I feel loved, balanced, happy and healthy. I'm feeling good on the inside, which is more important to me now than how I look."
However, Elle was moved to tears by a homemade video of birthday messages created by her close friends and family.
She added: "It took me four times to watch it through my tears. It was the most beautiful gift."

Tom Hardy has never felt "manly".
The 'Locke' actor claims he has been intimidated by macho men with bulging muscles for as long as he can remember and even used to avoid the gym because he was so paranoid.
He told the new issue of America's Esquire magazine: "I have always been frightened with men. To the point where I couldn't go into a gym because of the testosterone and I felt weak.
"I don't feel very manly. I don't feel rugged and strong and capable in real life, not how I imagine a man ought to be."
The British star revealed his fear causes him to choose ultra manly roles like Bane in Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight Rises' because he wants to understand how the other half lives.
Tom explained: "I seek it, to mimic it and maybe understand it, or maybe to draw it into my own reality. People who are scary, they terrify me, but I can imitate them.
"I'm not a fighter. I'm a petit little bourgeois boy from London. I don't fight, I mimic."
The 36-year-old actor also touched upon his past struggle with addiction, explaining he is grateful that he has learnt from the experience in a positive way.
He said: "I am f***ing lucky to be here, to be honest. Any near-death experience - if you're lucky enough to f***ing realise that it is one - is going to leave an indelible mark on you.
"And then you add shame and guilt and fear into that, it's a recipe for awareness if you have the ability to become aware from it. And good things can come back into your life."

Hugh Hefner celebrated his 88th birthday by hosting his traditional 'Casablanca' movie night.
The Playboy founder has held the same event for more than 20 years and decided he's not yet bored of marking his big day with family at friends at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.
Hugh, who celebrated his birthday on April 2, shared a number of photographs on Twitter with his 1.43 million followers.
He also posted: "Tonight we start my weekend birthday celebration with the screening of my all time favourite film 'Casablanca' with family and friends."
He shared one snap of him cosying up to wife Crystal, 27, at the Beverly Hills bash, accompanied by the caption: "Here's looking at you, kid", a quote from the 1942 movie.
Hugh also shared an image of male guests wearing white formal jackets and a group of women posing in the foyer.
In honour of his birthday, Hugh also looked back at his life in 'CBS This Morning's 'Note to Self Wednesday'.
Addressing his 16-year-old self, he said: "After launching Playboy magazine in 1953 ... you'll come out from behind the desk and become Mr. Playboy, the embodiment of the magazine you've created. You'll even inspire those around you to reinvent themselves.
"The girl next door will become an international sex symbol through the pages of Playboy. Librarians, lawyers and even your own secretary will use Playboy as a tool to re-imagine themselves."
He added: "Millions of readers will aspire to live the Playboy lifestyle and you will challenge them to question what they believe about sex and sexuality, about personal freedom and civil rights."

Kelly Rowland has recruited Pharrell Williams for her fifth solo album.
The 33-year-old star is planning the follow-up to 'Talk A Good Game' and has managed to get the 'Get Lucky' hitmaker to work on new material with her in the studio.
She told Billboard.com: "I'm at the very very beginning stages of the record. We're at the point now where we are all talking - writers [and] producers - we're all excited.
"There are fresh ideas coming into the studio right now. We're trying different beats. It's a really great start.
"Pharrell [Williams] is on board. We already talked about it. I'd love for Timbaland to be on board. We've had discussions as well.
"I want to try to some new talent as well. There's so much new talent ... There's somebody out there with something new to give and I'd love to tap into that as well."
Kelly recently revealed she's parted ways with Universal Republic for a "fresh new start" and wants to try something different.
She said: "I need something new and I've earned the right to make my own choices and make my own decisions.
"I wish them well. They wish me well. No hard feelings, I just needed a fresh new start."

Ed Sheeran has revealed that he was high on MDMA when director Peter Jackson texted him to ask if he would write a song for 'The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug'.
The 23-year-old singer-songwriter admits he decided to try the drug for the first time while on holiday in Ibiza, attending his producer Jack Gossling's wedding.
He told Rolling Stone magazine: "If I was ever going to try it, it would've been there.
"I thought the text wasn't real, because I was like, 'Is everything just great today?'"
The 'Lego House' hitmaker, who went on to write the track 'I See Fire' for the film, also spoke about his upcoming album, 'x', and claims he wanted "raw, honest songs from the heart."
He explained: "When you hear that Kesha-Pitbull song, you know it's a hit, but it doesn't make you want to cry or laugh or sit in a corner for five hours just repeating it."
Meanwhile, Ed also recently revealed one track from his album 'Don't' is about an ex-lover and singer who cheated on him in a hotel with a friend while he was downstairs.
He said: "It's 100 percent not about Taylor [Swift]. Taylor's one of these people that if you p*ss her off and she writes a song about you, it's not good news for you.
"I've never dated Taylor. I've dated a few singers, though."
Ed revealed he has played the song for Taylor and claims she told him: "Whatever happens, ever, between us as friends, I never want to p*ss you off that much."