According to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data for the week of April 1, 2024, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show averaged 515,000 total viewers and 124,000 P18-49. That’s represents a -5% loss in total viewers, but a +14% gain in P18-49 viewers from the show’s most-recent week of original episodes (week of March 25, 2024).
Jon Stewart’s Monday, April 1 episode, his seventh as The Daily Show Monday host, averaged 693,000 total viewers and 165,000 P18-49 viewers per Nielsen live-plus-same-day data. That grew to 1,670,000 total viewers and 326,000 P18-49 viewers after Nielsen live-plus-three-data is taken into account. Stewart’s April 1 episode shed -6% in total viewers but gained +6% in P18-49 viewers from his previous Monday episode (March 25, 2024). The 1,670,000 represents Stewart’s smallest Monday total live-plus-three audience, and the 326,000 represents his second-smallest P18-49 audience returning to The Daily Show on a weekly basis this past February.
After Stewart’s Monday episode, correspondent Desi Lydic served as host of the show’s Tuesday, April 2 through Thursday, April 4, 2024 episodes. Those Lydic-led shows averaged 434,000 total viewers and 105,000 P18-49 viewers, per Nielsen live-plus-same-day data (Thursday, April 4, 2024 live-plus-three data isn’t available yet). That represents a -3% drop in total viewers, but a +15% gain in P18-49 viewers from the show’s most recent Tuesday-Thursday original episodes, when TDS contributor Jordan Klepper 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.
