The Colbert Report () is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005 to December 18, 2014 for 1,447 episodes. The show focused on a fictional anchorman character named Stephen Colbert, played by his real-life namesake. The character, described by Colbert as a "well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot", is a caricature of televised political pundits. Furthermore, the show satirized conservative personality-driven political talk programs, particularly Fox News's The O'Reilly Factor.

The New Yorker wrote that "Colbert has made vital observations about the American political system, particularly about the sordid role that money plays within it. The Colbert Report and the Daily Show [...] have changed the way that young liberals of a certain class think and talk about civic culture."  The show also coined another word, wikiality, that means "reality as decided on majority rule." Viewers of the show also coined a word, freem, based on its inclusion in the show's opening sequence; the word refers to "'freedom' without having to 'do' anything -- without any responsibility or action." In response to the "Better Know a District" segment, Rahm Emanuel, then the Democratic Caucus chair, instructed incoming freshmen not to do appearances on the show in 2007. In 2008, East Carolina University associate professor Jason Bond named a species of trapdoor spider Aptostichus stephencolberti in honor of Stephen Colbert.  The "Colbert Bump" is defined, connotatively by the Report, as an increase in popularity of a person (author, musician, politician, etc.) or thing (website, etc.) as a result of appearing as a guest on or (in the case of a thing) being mentioned on the show. For example, if a politician appears on The Colbert Report, they may become more popular with certain voters and thus are more likely to be elected. According to the American Political Science Association, contributions to Democratic politicians rose 40% for 30 days after an appearance on the show. Magazines such as GQ, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated have all had sales spikes when Colbert appeared on their covers.  Viewers of The Colbert Report were on numerous occasions cited as being more knowledgeable about current events than traditional news viewers. In April 2007, a Pew Research Center report cited both Colbert and The Daily Show viewers as more well-informed than those who gathered their information via newspapers, television news and radio. Colbert's Super PAC coverage was widely lauded, and studies later found that this coverage was more effective than traditional news programs at educating the audience on campaign finance. He was awarded a Peabody Award for the parody, which was described as an "innovative means of teaching American viewers about the landmark court decision". The Annenberg Public Policy Center reported in 2014 that the Colbert Super PAC segments increased viewers' knowledge of PAC and 501(c)(4) campaign finance regulation more successfully than other types of news media.

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