Trevor Noah re-upped for Comedy Central's 'Daily Show'... to 2022!
Comedy Central has renewed faith in Jon Stewart's Daily Show successor Trevor Noah: The cable network has renewed his contract through 2022.
South African-born Noah, 33, had a sluggish start in 2015. But like Stephen Colbert and cable-news networks, the heated presidential election and Donald Trump presidency have given new life — and ratings strength — to the satirical show.
"He's completely earned it," network president Kent Alterman says of the renewal in an interview. Daily's TV audience was up 28% this summer, to 1.6 million viewers, as the only late-night show to grow over last year. It's also up 17% among young adults, the network says, citing Nielsen figures, and ranks third among late-night talk shows with that audience for the season.
Alterman says hiring a stand-up comedian from Johannesburg who wasn't steeped in U.S. politics was a risk worth taking. Though "he was prejudged before he even launched ... he had an outsider perspective that gives you a lot of clarity," he says. Conceding the "monumental task" of finding Stewart's replacement, "if the objective was to replace Jon directly with a younger version of himself, that would be a fool's errand."
In a statement, Noah said "it's really exciting to renew this contract for either five more years or until Kim Jong-un annihilates us all — whichever comes first.
Comedy won't say when Noah's existing contract was due to expire. But it's been a busy month for late-night renewals: HBO has extended Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (a former Daily Show correspondent and fill-in anchor) for three more seasons, and Real Time With Bill Maher for two additional years. Both are guaranteed spots through 2020.
More: John Oliver extends HBO contract for 'Last Week Tonight'
As part of the renewal, Noah also will host and produce annual year-end specials starting this year because, Comedy Central says, the show "will no longer take for granted that humankind has made it to another December 31."
