The Daily Show’s live Election Night special ended on a grim note; ratings-wise, however, the news was much more positive.
Last week, we reported that last Tuesday night’s extended episode of The Daily Show, which was hosted by (an often apoplectic) Jon Stewart, attracted the Comedy Central series’ third largest audience of the year. Now, TheWrap is reporting that the episode scored a huge streaming win, too; it delivered The Daily Show’s biggest audience ever on Paramount+—outpacing a typical episode of The Daily Show from 2024 by 275 percent.
As Kayla Cobb writes for TheWrap:
“The episode also performed well on social media, generating almost 40 million views and 4 million engagements. That viewership was a 83 percent increase compared to election coverage from The Daily Show in 2020, as well as a 160 percent increase in engagement compared to that same time. Additionally, the episode saw a 161 percent increase in social interest compared to a typical episode of The Daily Show.”
While Stewart’s return has been a ratings boon to The Daily Show, the satirical news series also benefited from being the only late-night show that was not preempted by Election Night coverage. (The same could not be said for Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, or Taylor Tomlinson.)
With Stewart now officially confirmed to stick around through the end of 2025 (at least), it’s not difficult to imagine more ratings wins in the show’s future.
