Jon Stewart’s return to The Daily Show as a part-time host has caused quite a stir, with Comedy Central recording its highest-rated episode of the late-night show since March 2018. Stewart’s comeback drew in 930,000 viewers for his first show, marking the most-watched episode in almost six years. The simulcasts on Paramount-owned channels, including MTV, Paramount Network, TV Land, CMT, Pop, MTV2, and Logo, along with a later replay on Comedy Central, brought the total viewership for the night to 1.85 million.
Stewart, who left the anchor desk in 2015, returned with familiar comic beats, and an aggressive marketing push behind his comeback contributed to the show’s success. The episode also recorded its best same-day rating among adults 25-54 since August 2017, more than doubling the audience compared to Trevor Noah’s final weeks as host and the series of guest hosts in 2023.
During the last 10 weeks of Noah’s tenure, the show averaged about 416,000 nightly viewers. After Noah’s departure and before the writers’ strike in May, guest hosts averaged 369,000 viewers per show. However, when the show resumed in mid-October after the strike, the average fell to under 300,000 viewers.
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Stewart’s return is scheduled only through the presidential election in November, with the show’s team of correspondents taking over hosting duties on other nights. Jordan Klepper will host for the remainder of the week.
In primetime on Monday, CBS led the night with the debut of its scripted lineup. NCIS led with 7.32 million viewers, its biggest same-day audience in a year. The Neighborhood, Bob Hearts Abishola, and NCIS: Hawai’i also saw improvements in viewership compared to their fall 2022 premieres. On ABC, The Bachelor hit same-day season highs in both total viewers and adults 18-49.