Jon Stewart has returned to the Daily Show and is hosting the program one night a week for election season. The news of Stewart’s return was hyped by the liberal media, as journalists are some of his biggest fans.
Stewart’s big return definitely improved ratings for the show, but the numbers aren’t as impressive when looked at in the context of other comparable programming.
On the same night as Stewart’s debut, he got crushed in the ratings by Greg Gutfeld, who has emerged as a serious force in late night.
The Western Journal reports:
Gutfeld Ruins Jon Stewart’s Big Night, Steamrolls Lib Comic in Ratings
Well, the ratings are in, and it was a landslide. It was epic…
Greg Gutfeld crushed Jon Stewart.
According to Nielsen, the premier episode of “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central delivered just 930,000 viewers in the 11-11:50 p.m. ET slot. More importantly — and worse for Stewart and company — in the coveted 25-54 age range there were only 320,000 viewers.
To an industry outsider, those numbers might seem respectable. However, these numbers are down significantly compared to 2014 numbers of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” when he got 1.4 million viewers total and 672,000 viewers in the coveted 25-54 demo.
The bad news for “The Daily Show” did not end there.
The same night of the premier, Greg Gutfeld who hosts “Gutfeld!” from 10-11 p.m. ET had 2.2 million viewers overall, with 328,000 viewers in 25-54 demo, beating Stewart among both categories. So much for the myth that conservatives are only old, angry white people.
The final nail in the coffin of the liberal Jon Stewart was him going head-to-head with “Fox News @ Night” at 11 p.m. ET. The show delivered 1.3 million viewers.
The media landscape has changed while Jon Stewart has been away. While liberals are overjoyed by his return, it is clear that he doesn’t hold the sway he did back in 2015. No one is laughing harder than Gutfeld.