Comedy Central is reaching back into the past to continue its long-running “The Daily Show” in the present.
After a months-long search for a new host, the Paramount Global network announced that it has hired Jon Stewart, who led the late-night mainstream's most popular era, to host the program on Monday nights throughout the 2024 election cycle . He is expected to oversee the show until 2025. Various “Daily Show” correspondents will host the show Tuesday through Thursday evenings, and Jen Flanz, current executive producer, will continue her duties on the show.
“Jon Stewart is the voice of our generation, and we are honored to have him return to Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show' to help us all understand the madness and division rocking the country as election season begins “Chris McCarthy, president/CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios, said in a statement. “In our age of stifling hypocrisy and performative politics, Jon is the perfect person to cut through the empty rhetoric and provide much-needed clarity with his brilliant wit.”
After the news broke, Stewart made his own announcement
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Friends. After much consideration, I have decided to enter the transfer portal for my final year of eligibility. Excited for the future!
About 1.70 m tall
165
14.8 seconds 40#Blessed #NILBABY #TDSnation #LFGM— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) January 24, 2024
Stewart is the persona most closely identified with “Daily,” and he transformed Comedy Central from an effort to become part of the late-night landscape into a cultural institution that became a touchstone for many of television's younger viewers. Since his exit in 2015, Stewart has moved on to other projects. He was an executive producer on CBS's “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and led a weekly foray into topical humor on Apple's streaming service, a show called “The Problem With Jon Stewart” that didn't gain as much traction during his tenure to “Daily”.
Comedy Central has been under intense scrutiny over the past year as it tested a host of potential hosts, including Leslie Jones, Kal Penn and Sarah Silverman following the sudden departure of Trevor Noah at the end of 2022. Executives were determined to maintain the program – a signature series for both the network as well as its parent company Paramount Global – especially in an election year.
But the economics of late-night TV have waned. Advertising revenue and ratings for shows have declined in recent years as viewers tend to stream videos and watch more shows by watching excerpts of shows on digital media the day after they air on linear television. After bringing in about $39.9 million in ad dollars in 2022, “Daily Show” is on track to rake in nearly $19 million in 2023, according to Vivvix, an ad spending tracker. Production last year was hampered by Hollywood writers' strikes, and Comedy Central did not run reruns of The Daily Show, unlike its competitors at CBS, NBC and ABC.
Others have tested a similar model to Comedy Central. Given the departure of Rachel Maddow, MSNBC's most popular primetime host, NBCUniversal negotiated with her to continue appearing on Monday nights and at key points in the news cycle, even as she pursued a number of other projects within the media company's overall portfolio.
As part of the deal, James Dixon, a WME agent with deep ties to the world of late-night TV, will also serve as executive producer. Dixon, who works with Stewart, Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel, is also executive producer of CBS' new late-night entry, “After Midnight.” The show, which counts Colbert as an executive producer, is hosted by Taylor Tomlinson and debuted less than two weeks ago.