According to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data for the week of April 8, 2024, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show averaged 476,000 total viewers and 122,000 P18-49. That’s represents an -8% loss in total viewers, and a -2% loss in P18-49 viewers from the show’s most-recent week of original episodes (week of April 1, 2024).
Jon Stewart’s Monday, April 8 episode, his eighth as The Daily Show Monday host, averaged just 671,000 total viewers and 127,000 P18-49 viewers per Nielsen live-plus-same-day data. Those figures grew to 1,430,000 total viewers and 239,000 P18-49 viewers after Nielsen live-plus-three-data is taken into account. Stewart’s April 8 episode had an difficult hill to climb, going head-to-head against the NCAA men’s national championship game. Not surprisingly, Stewart’s program shed -14% in total viewers and -27% in P18-49 viewers from his previous Monday episode (April 1). The 1,430,000 represents Stewart’s smallest Monday total live-plus-three audience, and the 239,000 represents his smallest P18-49 audience returning to The Daily Show on a weekly basis this past February.
After Stewart’s Monday episode, correspondent Michael Kosta served as host of the show’s Tuesday, April 9 through Thursday, April 11, 2024 episodes. Those Kosta-led shows averaged 403,000 total viewers and 119,000 P18-49 viewers, per Nielsen live-plus-same-day data (Thursday, April 11, 2024 live-plus-three data isn’t available yet). That represents a -7% loss in total viewers, but a +13% gain in P18-49 viewers from the show’s most recent Tuesday-Thursday original episodes, when Desi Lydic led the proceedings.
Despite this mixed viewership trend, numbers remain relatively strong for The Daily Show in the Jon Stewart Monday era. For reference, prior to the writers’ strike in May, rotating Daily Show guest hosts averaged 369,000 total viewers per show; when The Daily Show resumed in mid-October after writers’ strike concluded, that average fell to roughly 300,000 viewers on average.
