With Jon Stewart in Los Angeles earlier this week for the Netflix Is a Joke festival, The Daily Show switched things up this week. Instead of adhering to The Daily Show‘s regular schedule with Stewart as Monday host, the veteran late nighter hosted Thursday instead.
So, how did Stewart fare last night? According to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, The Daily Show averaged 459,000 total viewers with 84,000 P18-49 viewers on Thursday, May 9. That’s down substantially from his average Monday numbers in 2024 to-date (see below), and -33% in total viewers and -47% in P18-49 viewers from his most-recent episode as host (Monday, April 22).
How does Stewart’s Thursday Daily Show stack up against previous Thursday episodes, with rotating guest hosts at the desk? Prior to Stewart’s episode, The Daily Show had averaged 408,000 total viewers with 89,000 P18-49 viewers on Thursdays in 2024. This means Stewart’s Thursday episode was +13% in total viewers but -6% in P18-49 viewers from the year to-date average. The Thursday episode preceding Stewart’s (April 25 co-hosted by Jordan Klepper and Ronny Chieng) averaged just 380,000 total viewers and 83,000 P18-49.
Harvard polling director John Della Volpe was Stewart’s guest last night.
Jordan Klepper was at the Daily Show desk earlier in the week — Monday through Wednesday. Klepper’s Monday, May 6 episode averaged 571,000 total viewers and 91,000 P18-49, per Nielsen live-plus-same-day data. While up in each measurement relative to Stewart’s Thursday episode, Klepper’s Monday episode was -34% in total viewers and -48% in P18-49 viewers from Stewart’s live-plus-same-day averages on Mondays, year to-date (860,000 total viewers; 176,000 P18-49).
