Last Week Tonight host John Oliver turned his ire on his HBO bosses Monday afternoon after he learned that clips from his show won’t be posted to YouTube until days after they first air.
As first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the move marks a break from tradition for the show, which kicked off its 11th season last night. Over the past ten seasons, clips of the show’s main story have been posted to YouTube Monday mornings, where they’ve regularly garnered millions of views.
Oliver, never one to mince words, made his displeasure known via tweet Monday afternoon: “I know I usually share a link to our main story here on Mondays, but HBO has decided they’re going to wait until Thursday to post them to YouTube from now on. I hope they change their mind, but until then, you can see our piece about the Supreme Court on HBO, on Max, and on YouTube in a few days.”
HBO signaled that the move is intended to help boost subscriptions to Max, Warner Media’s streaming platform.
“When Last Week Tonight With John Oliver premiered on HBO, the convenience of watching on Max did not exist, so YouTube allowed flexible viewing for the main story as well as promotional exposure,” an HBO spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter. “We are now delaying that availability and hope those fans choose to watch the entire show on Max.”
Since its debut in 2014, Oliver and his show have won 28 Emmy awards, including every writing and series Emmy that they’ve been nominated for. In December 2023, the series was renewed for three additional seasons, through 2026.
