The return of Jon Stewart to Comedy Central’s The Daily Show was an immediate ratings boon to the longtime comedy news program. Expanding upon the initial numbers of its February 12 premiere, a total of 3.06 million had watched it via TV, DVR, on-demand, and streaming, based on live plus 3-day data from Nielsen Media Research.
That was followed up by 1.26 million watching the original Feb. 19 telecast, according to Nielsen live plus same-day data — the best Comedy Central-only figure for the show since Stewart had departed on Aug. 6, 2015.
The Feb. 26 edition, which concluded with Stewart’s somber tribute to his late dog Dipper drew 885,000 viewers.
Stewart’s Monday night original telecasts have averaged 1 million viewers from Feb. 19 through Mar. 11. It is quite a feat for The Daily Show considering that before 2024, it had previously last reached the 500,000-viewer threshold back in Nov. 17, 2022, when former President Barack Obama was a guest with Trevor Noah (501;000).
The added interest has also provided a ratings halo effect upon Its Tuesday–Thursday editions, which are hosted by the show’s “News Team” correspondents. Their averages were, as follows:
- Feb. 13-15, 2024 (Jordan Klepper): 461,000 viewers; 134,000 adults 25-54 {late-night reruns: 134,000 viewers; 84,000 adults 25-54}
- Feb. 20-22, 2024 (Desi Lydic): 485,000 viewers; 145,000 adults 25-54 {late-night reruns: 72,000 viewers; 52,000 adults 25-54}
- Feb. 27-29, 2024 (Michael Kosta): 431,000 viewers; 142,000 adults 25-54 {late-night reruns: 87,000 viewers; 47,000 adults 25-54}
- Mar. 5-7, 2024 (Ronny Chieng): 440,000 viewers; 154,000 adults 25-54 {late-night reruns: 127,000 viewers; 84,000 adults 25-54}
- Mar. 12-14, 2024 (Desi Lydic & Michael Kosta): 411,000 viewers
To put these numbers into perspective, they are approximately the same audience figures for Trevor Noah’s final week on Dec. 5-8, 2022 (440,000 viewers; 154,000 adults 25-54).
Of the guest hosts in 2023 who filled in for the departed Noah, former U.S. senator Al Franken had the show’s most-watched week (Mar. 20-23, 2023: 438,000 average) while former Daily Show correspondent Hasan Minhaj (Feb. 27-Mar. 2, 2023: 0.11 A25-54 rating = 131,000 adults 25-54) delivered its best weekly demo of the year.
Unlike current editions, none of the episodes in 2023 were re-aired in their respective overnights.
