“The Colbert Report,” Comedy Central’s spinoff of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” premiered Monday to strong numbers, retaining 98 percent of its “Daily Show” lead-in audience.

The series, a parody of cable news pundit programs, is hosted by longtime “Daily Show” correspondent Stephen Colbert and was seen by 1.1 million total viewers. That’s up 103 percent over a year ago, when “Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn” held the spot.