Jon Lovett and Julia Ioffe will help Have I Got News for You kick off its fifth season this weekend, with Lovett making his first appearance and Ioffe returning for her third.
The U.S. adaptation of the long-running British comedy panel show returns Saturday, September 12 at 9 p.m. ET on CNN, with Roy Wood Jr. back as host and Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black serving as team captains.
Lovett is a founder of Crooked Media, co-host of Pod Save America, and host of Lovett or Leave It, which is set to make its MS Now debut just an hour after Have I Got News for You signs off Saturday night.
Ioffe, a founding partner and Washington correspondent at Puck, previously guested during Seasons 3 and 4. A longtime reporter on Russia-U.S. relations, Ioffe covers national security, foreign affairs, and domestic politics from Washington and Europe.
Since premiering in September 2024, HIGNFY has carved out an unusual niche for CNN on Saturday nights.
Though it technically airs in primetime, the show draws heavily from the late-night playbook, with late-night veterans in front of and behind the camera and a format built around topical comedy, political satire, and riffing on the week’s news.
CNN pairs HIGNFY with its Saturday-night encore of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, which airs at 8 p.m., giving the network a two-hour block of topical comedy and commentary.
It appears to be working. The series climbed to its highest linear ratings levels yet last season, averaging more than a million total viewers, while its adults 25–54 audience increased 89% from the previous season, according to Nielsen Live+7 data.
The show has found an audience beyond linear TV as well, regularly cracking HBO Max’s top 10.
New Season 5 episodes will air Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET on CNN and become available to stream the following day for CNN All Access subscribers and on HBO Max.
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