Jon Stewart’s new show on AppleTV+ is reportedly a flop
Jo🌳🌌n Stewart is struggling to gain traction on his new talk show, according to a report.
“The Problem with Jon Stewart,” which launched on AppleTV+ in September, appears to be a flop, as it trails far behind its competitors on broadcast and cable TV, according to
The show’s first episode was seen by just 180,000 US homes in the first week it debuted last fall, measurement firm . That number dropped to 78% to 40,000 by its fifth episode, which aired in early March.
Stewart’s comic rival John Oliver, meanwhile, pulled in viewership of 844,000 US homes for a March episode of his HBO show, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” Samba TV reported.
♔Stewart declined to comment, but on the air, he has made his thoughts about the numb💦ers clear.
“Thank you for watching but my guess is you didn’t,” he said at the end of the premiere episode of his show. “You’re probably just going to look at aggregated clips of it somewhere, on YouTube, where you pirate ‘Ted Lasso.’ You don’t even know ho♊w to get Apple TV, do you?”
Apple hasn’t disclosed any viewership numbers, but the magazine Entertainment Weekly said the show is the No. 1 unscripted series on Apple TV+, citing “sources.”
Bloomberg cited research from Parrot Analytics, which said Stewart’s show is the eighth-most popular show in the US, ahead of programs hosted by Ellen DeGeneres and James Corden and behind shows hosted by the likes of Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert and his “Daily Show” replacement, Trevor Noah.
“We are thrilled that ‘The Problem with Jon Stewart’ has resonated with viewers all over the world,” Molly Thompson, head of unscripted and documentaries at Apple TV+, told . “The series has sparked complex conversations about critical issues, and we’re proud to team with Jon for season two and beyond.”
As host of “The Daily Show” for 16 years, Stewart became a hugely influential voce in social and political commentary. His last show, which aired in August 2015, , according to Nielsen ratings. That was second only to a 2008 episode in which Stewart interviewed then-Sen. Barack Obama, .
Now Stewart is trying to make a splash on a smaller platform that is part of a crowded streaming landscape filled with entertainment options. Netflix, HBO Max and Hulu aღll have talk shows hosted by comedians, from Bill Maher and Chelsea Handler to Joel McHale and Michelle Wolf.
The size of the viewership pool is also a hurdle for Stewart, who could reach a larger audience when he was on TV. Today, roughly 70 million people still subscribe to cable TV. Although Apple doesn’t disclose the size of its overall audience of paying customers, research firm MoffettNathanson estimates it has 12 million subscribers.
“There’s no doubt Jon Stewart made much more of a splash in public discourse 20 years ago than he’s making today,” Stephen Farnsworth, a co-author of a book about late-night TV shows during the Trump era, told Bloomberg.𒐪
