No outcry because he's painful to watch. He sucks!

I think he has other projects.
www.kontentport.com/why-you-should-be-excited-for-guardians-of-the-gal axy-1019.html

When Carson retired, there were only two candidates who were seriously considered for the job: Letterman and Leno. One, the guy who put in the work behind Carson for ten years, the other Carson's permanent guest host. Other than those two, I don't think anyone seriously expected anybody else to take the job.
Carson wanted Dave to take over when he retired, Dave thought he had it sewn up. Dave's show is the only appearance Carson made on a talk show after he retired.

I thought I read somewhere that there was some part in his contract that if he was passed over or turned down the Late Night host gig that he got an amount of money? I agree with others saying he probably doesn't want to end up in the position Conan did. I'm willing to bet that he didn't want to uproot his family and move so far away from his older son who he shares custody with his previous wife.
I'm going to miss him being the host of TLLS though because he's so different from other hosts and that's what I find enjoyable about him and the show.

Well, now we know, from his own comment that Craig decided to leave and in fact wished to leave two years ago. I know some won't believe him but I will take his word for it. He has never impressed me as a guy who wants to do the same thing for decades. I will miss his show which was funny and different, one of the main reasons I watched. You could never be sure what would happen and it wasn't just a rehash of the same stories the actor/actress/writer, etc would tell on all the shows they went on. I always assumed that's why he ran the show the way he did. Want to hear the nice, safe, rehearsed story? Watch the other shows. Want to see the person being more themselves and being teased into being silly? Watch Craig.
I wondered why everyone assumes they didn't offer Letterman's spot to Craig. Now it can be assumed they didn't because they knew he didn't want it. It's not the first time someone has decided they want to move on.
Johnny wanted Letterman to take over so it was a surprise when Leno got the job. The proof in that is Johnny still wrote jokes for Dave after he retired and the night of Johnny's death Letterman's opening routine was made up entirely of jokes Johnny had written for him. NBC kind of stabbed Letterman in the back which certainly made it easier for him to jump ship. I was never much of a Leno fan and as sweet as Fallon is he is just too blah for me, except his impersonations. I hope they find someone as off beat as Craig to take late night talk show in a different direction. I would love a version of the British of The Graham Norton Show where all the guests stay and you get some fun interaction. They used to do that way back when and it was fun and spontaneous.
I wish him good luck and hope he does something I will enjoy as much as I have enjoyed the chat show.

It is a bit unfair to compare this to the Carson/Letterman situation in the way that you have done. The late night landscape has changed immeasurably since then. At that time, being a late night comedy talk show host was something really only two or three people got to be. At that point, we were just on the precipice of a kind of late night talk show explosion. When Carson retired, there2000 were only two candidates who were seriously considered for the job: Letterman and Leno. One, the guy who put in the work behind Carson for ten years, the other Carson's permanent guest host. Other than those two, I don't think anyone seriously expected anybody else to take the job.
At this point, though, late night comedy talk show host is something that a comedian can legitimately aspire to. There are now actual other tried and tested late night comedy talk show hosts who could vie for the spot with other tried and tested late night comedy talk show hosts: Colbert, Stewart, O'Brien, Lopez, Degeneres, etc. In 1992, it was mostly two people: Letterman and Leno. And of the two of them, Letterman probably thought he deserved it more, because, yeah, he put in his time as a talk show host. He was basically the only guy around who had proven himself night after night as a host for ten years. At this point though, Ferguson is nowhere near the only guy around who has proven himself capable of sitting in the chair.
I'm not saying he didn't necessarily deserve it, but the situation is very very different. I'm sure Letterman in 92 must have been thinking, "They're looking for a guy who can successfully take on a historical franchise. I'm the ONLY guy who has put out a successful talk show for the last 10 years, I've resisted offers to go to other networks to compete with Johnny, and they're still not choosing me and what's worse, they're asking me to stay here and follow the person they are putting in over me." I'm just not sure Craig could say the same thing, as good as he is and as good as his show has been.

Maybe he turned it down.

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As much as I would love to see Craig advance and be recognized in the late night realm, I have come to believe that he definitely does not belong in the earlier time slot. He's very quirky, which I love, and as stated above, I would hate to see him boxed in and scripted. You can't conform and contain and polish the things about Craig that make him so charming.

PLUS I love Secretariate and Geoff and Florian and Ralph and it would be awful to lose them. They wo238uldn't let a pantomime horse on the late show or a gay robot or lesbian row for that matter. I love his gay positive attitude and its great to be included. Whenever anything 'gay' comes up with the other hosts its usually uncomfortable to hear them talk about us because they don't know what they are talking about. Craig knows what he's talking about and when he doesn't at least he's smart enough not to insult us by generalising. How many times have I heard a late show douche try to sound cool but instead it comes out as homophobic?
I digress, I'm glad Craig1c84 is still in the Late Late show because it would be a real shame to see him go anywhere else and see him read a script.

I'm glad he's still on TLLS because I love him as a person and host. I think it would be horrible to have him reading a script like a robot you'd be robbed of his character and charm. He is cheeky and a bit silly but it's his thing. I hope he stays for good

After what happened to Conan I don't blame him for not wanting Late Show. Much like Conan he'd end up having to sacrifice most of his bits and material to conform to 11:30 but still be too immature and wild for the older audience. At least Colbert will always be welcome back at Comedy Central.

Isn't it ironic that there is virtually no outcry over CBS's decision to pass over Craig as the successor to David Letterman? After all, Dave played the victim for 20 years after almost identical circumstances at the Tonight Show in 1992. Yes, I know Craig is set up to receive a hefty bonus in exchange for being snubbed. But he has to be disappointed.
I know Craig is supposed to have said in the past that he was not interested in taking over "The Late Show" when Letterman stepped down. I just never understood why. Oh, unless it's like when Dave used to say "I have no interest in becoming the first in a series of people who failed trying to replace Johnny Carson". What that was really about, of course, was not wanting to appear eager for Johnny to retire. It's the rare entertainer who has no ambition to rise to more prestigious positions (like "Late Show" would be to Craig's career). I wonder if, years from now, Craig will reveal that he actually was sorta interested in taking over the show, but
CBS
advised him to keep that to himself. I certaintly hope not, as that would make Dave look like a hypocrite considering how he felt when
NBC
gave "TTS" to Jay who hadn't been there as long.

Exactly, people that goes on Craig actually enjoy their time there
except for Jennifer Lawrence w/111c David Letterman and Damon w/ Jimmy Kimmel most of the times actors seems miserable of doing talk shows, not with Craig

Look at how all the guest are so comfortable with him. This speaks a lot about his skills.
Many actors comes on talk shows with a FULL SCRIPT which requires the host to ask them questions pertaining to the STORY(ies) that they'd prearranged with the show's Producers ahead of time. Ferguson doesn't go for any of that crap.
They passed him over because most people like you don't get him.

First of all, 11:30 isn't prime time. That's 8 to 11 p.m.
Second, he thought he was going to do his talk show, or a version of it, in syndication, at 7 p.m.
Third, Craig hates rules. 11:30 is all about rules, and the suits telling you "you can't say/do that". He didn't want the hassle

but I seriously doubt any entertainer would prefer hosting a generic game with second rate celebrities instead of taking over Letterman and getting to host his own talk show with A listers.
There are many entertainers who would salivate at the thought of having that Letterman gig, but Craig is definitely not one of them.

True that, the game show schedule does seem a lot more convenient, but I seriously doubt any entertainer would prefer hosting a generic game with second rate celebrities instead of taking over Letterman and getting to host his own talk show with A listers. It feels like this was all he was offered and not a decision to prioritize time with his family.

11:30 pm is hardly prime time. It is a major network, though. But it's also a 5-show/week commitment that, for the most part, needs to be recorded the same day. (Or at least in some kind of timely fashion.) With the game show, he can tape an entire season's worth of shows in a few weeks. This leaves him plenty of time to do long stand up tours, spend time with family, and work5b4 on other projects. It comes as no surprise to me that he would prefer what he's doing now over being locked into another late night talk show that he's never had any interest in.

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He didn't want to host a prime time show and instead preferred to host a pathetic game show with a bunch of celebrity has beens?
Talk about appealing to the lowest denominator

Clearly you only know one wordincoherent is not how you describe his interviews. They may be irreverent, but they're only incoherent to someone who has trouble understanding basic conversation.
Frankly, his interviews are the only ones outside of The Daily Show that I can stand. Fallon is atrocious at them. Kimmel is okay, but he offers little insight or humor in them. Letterman and Leno were just going through the motions and Colbert is too interested in his own shtick. Ferguson is one of the funniest men on television and he didn't get the show because he said he didn't want it. His style doesn't fit into the box you have to fit in for those shows. He doesn't appeal to the lowest common denominator, which you are obviously a part of.

it beats the random useless fluff that Craig talks about. His interviews are uncomfortable and unwatchable. They are just incoherent.

you're one of those who like the same old interviews with "stories" from guests casually introduced by guests after a total subtle mention by the host, let's me guess you're a Jay Leno fan?

It takes no skill at all to follow a script, but you have to have skill/talent to make up comments on the fly and be entertaining and have a knack for getting some sort of interesting response from a celebrity guest.