Stephen Colbert will hit the new late-night show staring September 8, CBS announced.

That gives the comic genius nine months to determine the secret of how to keep the network's most competitive format on top of the rating's game.

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So, Colbert will have to make up his mind whether he'd go for the usual opening monologue, which has been the usual opening for tonight shows since NBC's Tonight Starring Steve Allen in the 1950s.

Colbert's transfer to the Late Show comes after Letterman announced that he will be leaving the set after over three decades of being a fixture in late-night TV scene. The seasoned host spent 20 years on CBS, where the Late Show originally aired, before it transferred to CBS.

While the studio's late-night programing is already going through transition, studio execs will have to keep an eye on Colbert and James Corden, whose own show will replace Craig Ferguson's 12:35 a.m. program starting in March if they could pull in significant audience to their respective shows.

Nevertheless, it was reported that CBS is giving Colbert leeway as to how he handles the show. He was even allowed to shed a little of his The Colbert Report person, which saw him depict a rather self-absorbed, cocky right-wing commentator, although CBS Entertainment Chair Nina Tassler revealed in an interview Monday that the viewers would see "the real Stephen Colbert," who will discuss on "still topical, still relevant, still dealing with current events."

TagsStephen Colbert, late show