It’s been a month since Trevor Noah made his debut as the new host of The Daily Show, and according to The Wrap, he’s proving to be a worthy successor, numbers-wise, to former host Jon Stewart. While the Nielsen ratings for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah are down 37% in total viewers from Stewart’s final quarter of the show, Comedy Central president Michele Ganeless revealed that over 40% of Daily Show content is now viewed through digital platforms – a 10% leap from Stewart’s final days on the show – and he’s attracting more millennial viewers overall:
While Noah has been no Stewart as far as Nielsen is concerned, there are bright spots even per those possibly antiquated measurements. Noah’s first four weeks delivered double-digit growth (up 20 percent) among adults 18-24 versus the final quarter of Stewart’s run. Filtering that further to just men of that age range, The Daily Show is up 32 percent. Those numbers are particularly impressive considering the diminishing TV viewing habits of the youngest adult demo. While any advertiser or TV programmer would take the demo with the 25 extra years of range and purchasing power, Comedy Central swears by its millenials-first target as a way to break through all that other late-night noise.
Noah’s show is building most of its momentum with younger viewers who get their TV fix through pretty much any avenue but the traditional route, including Facebook, YouTube, and even Snapchat views. It also boasts a strong Twitter presence – Noah is currently in third place behind The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and @midnight in Twitter mentions. Ganeless also revealed how Jon Stewart feels about his replacement: “He’s like a proud papa,†she said. “We made the absolute right choice. The show needed to evolve.â€