Jon Stewart’s new talk show on AppleTV+ reportedly hasn’t resonated with audiences the way he would have hoped. Numbers indicate “The Problem with Jon Stewart” appeared in 180,000 homes during its debut in the fall.
The New York Post is reporting that the fifth episode, which aired in March, was seen by just 40,000 people, a 78% drop. Stewart reacted to the small viewership numbers at the end of the premiere episode of his show.
“Thank you for watching but my guess is you didn’t,” he said. “You’re probably just going to look at aggregated clips of it somewhere, on YouTube, where you pirate ‘Ted Lasso.’ You don’t even know how to get Apple TV, do you?”
Molly Thompson, head of unscripted and documentaries at Apple TV+, told Bloomberg that the company is happy with Stewart’s new program. “The series has sparked complex conversations about critical issues, and we’re proud to team with Jon for season two and beyond,” she said.
The former “Daily Show” host is used to being on television where audiences are significantly larger. His last show six years ago was seen by 3.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings.
Stewart faces more competition on AppleTV+ with abundant streaming options such as Netflix, HBO Max, and Hulu which all have talk shows hosted by comedians.
