Logo

John Oliver Wrapping Up His Run on ‘Daily Show’ — so How Did He Do?

Aug 16, 2013  •  Post A Comment

John Oliver wraps up his eight-week tenure this week as fill-in for Jon Stewart on Comedy Central’s "The Daily Show," and The Hollywood Reporter’s Live Feed reports that Oliver kept the ratings steady during Stewart’s hiatus.

The show’s ratings remained unchanged in the young, male demographics, the story notes. With men 18-34 and adults 18-34, the series kept its .97 rating.

The report adds: "Yes, there were modest slips from summer 2012. The average viewership dropped 13 percent from 1.492 million viewers to 1.299 million viewers in Live+Same Day returns, while posting even smaller losses in adults 18-49."

But it’s difficult to compare this summer with last, given that the shows were a few weeks out of the Republican and Democratic national conventions and running up to the 2012 U.S. presidential election, the piece notes.

The story adds: "So where does this leave Oliver? While few would argue that the correspondent didn’t perform as host — his tenure has been met, by and large, with a warm critical response — he also benefited a great deal from the apparently robust ‘Daily Show’ brand. And nearly 15 years after that brand became synonymous with Jon Stewart, it seems like it might be capable of performing just as well without him."

john-oliver.pngJohn Oliver

5 Comments

  1. In a word, he was brilliant. He — wisely — never tried to do what Jon Stewart does. He brought his own comic style to the part, and made it his own. Kudos.

  2. He was brilliant and it also demonstrates the brilliance of the staff and writers that made a transitition seamless.

  3. If Comedy Central isn’t currently working on a show for Oliver they are making a big mistake.

  4. I bet I know what the network suits are thinking. “If this virtual nobody (compared to Stewart) can keep up the same ratings for 8 weeks, why don’t we put him (or someone else) in this slot that’s cheaper than Stewart and will make us even more money.” As Gordon Gecko famously said, “Greed is good”.

  5. I’d bet they are thinking of a way to have their cake and eat it, too. I’d be pitching them a “That Was The Week That Was”-type show with Oliver in a late Saturday time slot. Considering the talent turnover at SNL, it may be Comedy Central’s best shot at grabbing a piece of that audience. (Feel free to steal that idea, CC!)

Leave a Reply to Myke25 Cancel Reply

Email (will not be published)