The powerful effect of Jon Stewart’s return to The Daily Show continues to be undeniable.
TheWrap reports that Tuesday night’s Stewart-hosted episode of The Daily Show—a live broadcast covering the (sort of) second presidential debate—brought in the show’s best ratings in seven years.
A total of 966,000 viewers tuned in live to watch Stewart recap the showdown between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. That’s a 28 percent improvement over his year-to-date average viewership.
Stewart’s weekly stints as host (usually on Monday nights) have seen ratings bumps since he started the gig back in February, but this week’s episode was exponential: It was 92 percent higher than an average Stewart-hosted episode this year (0.572 vs. 0.298).
The episode also boasted a 62 percent higher share than the usual Stewart episodes, giving The Daily Show its highest share since Stewart’s departure as full-time host in 2015.
The ratings came as viewers were seemingly glued to their TVs on Tuesday night. The debate itself saw 67 million viewers. The Daily Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert both broadcast live episodes following the debate.
Tuesday’s Daily Show made an impression online, too. TheWrap notes its social content saw more engagement than that of Colbert, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, or Jimmy Kimmel Live!, with 2.8 million views and 517,000 interactions.
Stewart’s reaction to the debate included a nearly 20-minute monologue that ended in a blistering conclusion from the host: “One thing will always be true, and it is the quality of the former president I respect the least,” Stewart said. “Whenever he is cornered and forced to face even the smallest of consequences for his own mendacity and scheming, he reverts to the greatest refuge of scoundrels. As Shaggy would say, ‘It wasn’t me!’”
That monologue alone currently sits at nearly 10 million views on YouTube.
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