Whoever his business daddy ends up being, John Oliver is sticking around HBO for at least one more year.
The Last Week Tonight host has signed a new one-year contract extension, keeping his weekly series on the air through the end of 2027. Oliver is currently midway through the show’s 13th season; the new deal will cover Season 14.
Oliver’s compensation under the new agreement is unknown. His 2023 renewal was reportedly worth about $30 million annually—or roughly $1 million for each of the show’s 30 episodes.
The relatively brief extension is notable given the uncertainty surrounding HBO’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, whose proposed merger with Paramount is on hold while an antitrust challenge works its way through the courts.
It also represents a change from Oliver’s last renewal. HBO handed Last Week Tonight a three-season pickup in December 2023, carrying the show through its current season. HBO’s other weekly late-night host, Bill Maher, signed a two-season renewal in January that will keep Real Time on the air through 2028.
Oliver acknowledged the conspicuously convenient timing of his new deal in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter’s Mikey O’Connell, who broke the news of his renewal.
“You just took the option to extend your contract with HBO for another year, taking you through 2027, which feels like a very convenient amount of time for a man in your position,” O’Connell observed.
“Yeah,” Oliver replied with a laugh.
The host, who has repeatedly joked about HBO’s revolving collection of corporate owners, described Paramount and other possible future overseers as “various prospective business daddies circling, no one fully willing to commit just yet.”
Asked how he was handling the latest delay in the Paramount deal, Oliver said the show’s strategy was simple: pretend none of it was happening.
“Nothing’s happening and everything has stayed the same,” he said. “That’s the only way that we can really move forward. Total denial.”
Oliver was considerably less trusting when it came to any assurances that Warner Bros. Discovery or Paramount executives might offer before a deal closes.
“In general, business grownups will say one thing before a merger happens and their behavior can be very different afterwards,” he said. “The rhetoric before a merger and the behavior after, that doesn’t always match up.”
Oliver added that he and his staff have already made clear that they would not be “amenable to changes” imposed by a new owner.
Since premiering in 2014, Last Week Tonight has become an awards-show darling, collecting 32 Emmys, two Peabody Awards, and a closet full of other statuettes, including honors from the Writers Guild and the Golden Globes. The show is up for another three Emmys in September.
How does John make more than Biil? lol. 30 million for ONE show per week is better than Johnny Carson’s three shows per week.
You’re fucking welcome!
John not only wins prestige prizes, but has an international reach far bigger than Bill. Bill mused about whether people in Argentina watched his show during the recent Laura Loomer suit, no one needs to ask whether John has viewers in Argentina or any large country.
Last Week Tonight is the best show on television. Maher should be cancelled.
There wont be a last man standing to siphon up the remaining audiences of former hosts. The format is being retired because even these Jewish CEOs can’t justify paying these bloated salaries to these snarky rich whîte elitist leftists.
$30 million a year? Come on.
What the fuck have I told you before, twig? You’re a hate filled loser that thinks it’s entitled to smear your disgusting shit all over this place! You need to grow the fuck up and get a life, before your mommy kicks you out of her home and you’re out on the streets with nowhere to go!
Understand, bitch?
The Austrian Painter’s return is inevitable.
Nobody likes you Nazi losers, Zero!
Everybody under 40 loves Hitler and hates Jews.
You neocons are getting spanked by Iran right now and Russia.
Things are not looking great for you Israel-first traitors.
Geez Zero, you’re an even bigger stupidfuck than anyone can imagine! No wonder everyone hates your guts, bitch!
You’d be happy as an SS guard at Auschwitz, ya loser scumhole!
Boomers dream about being a Niger for some strange reason.
That’s what pretty much everyone agrees you are here, Zero!
But even you are not either. You’re circa 2018 faux outrage isn’t impressing anybody.
Boomers are so out of touch in every way. It’s cringe. Lower your sweatpants from your nipples.
They’re all telling you to shut the fuck up and grow the fuck up! At this point, you’re just posting a word salad because you’re flustered and frustrated that I won’t back the fuck off from you, ya little bitch!
Cope, loser!😈