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Depending on who you talk to, Trevor Noah has either finally hit his stride as the host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, or he still comes up demonstrably short against his predecessor. When the South African comedian was handed the reins of one of Viacom’s most prized franchises from the venerable Jon Stewart, it seemed that nearly everyone had worried that his bemused demeanor wouldn’t catch on with an audience that felt the anger and exasperation alongside Stewart and his team.
Against veteran hosts for other shows, including TDS alums Stephen Colbert and Samantha Bee, Noah had the most to prove as both the heir apparent to a television icon and a perceived ‘outsider’ who didn’t grow up black in America despite literally being “born a crime.”
However, as most late night talk shows have experienced a ‘Trump bump,’ it was Noah whose standing has arguably improved the most. A large part of his and the show’s recent success may have to do with the ever-growing diversity of both the show’s casting and its audience over these past two years.
Going back to 2002, the earliest ethnic viewership data is available from Nielsen, The Daily Show historically has predominantly white viewership, even beyond what would be parallel to the actual U.S. population (non-Hispanic whites make up 61%, according to the Census). Case in point, Stewart’s final season had averaged 1.28 million viewers per episode, of which 1.083 million (84.5%) were white. It’s well known that the program saw dramatic drops across the board in Noah’s first few months, September through December 2015. Interestingly, TDS lost 40% of the white audience, slipping to just 645,000 (78.9%) of the 818,000 total viewers per episode.
While the viewership base shrunk in the transition, an interesting story has developed underneath the industry chatter about Comedy Central’s linear ratings. The network used the hosting change to finally address the diversity concerns during Stewart’s tenure. In a 2010 study reviewed by The Hollywood Reporter, TDS was considered the ‘least diverse’ in late night despite its largely progressive subject matter. There was also a matter of the program’s most frequent guests, which according to a 2015 Vox study, were mostly white men. (You could look through epguides.com for a complete list.)
Stewart certainly enjoyed viewers among all ethnicities, yet the African-American audience had always been a particularly sore spot for the show. Stewart held steady with the Latinx at around 6% over the years while the Asian audience, which statistically fluctuates due to its smaller footprint, hovered at around 5% over his time on the air. However, TDS under Stewart had a steady drop of black viewers since 2012, with double-digit declines through his exit season. The greatest decline was actually in 2014 where the black audience dropped by 22% from the prior year.
It’s all the reason why growth among black viewers versus the general audience is fascinating since there have historically been few minority hosts in late night, let alone The Daily Show. Though younger viewers of all ethnicities continue to move away from linear television, TDS has seen huge lifts among black viewers over the age of 35. With 109,000 African-American viewers aged 35 and up through the first week of October, The Daily Show grew by 47% in the demo versus the same period in 2016. Viewers above 55 years old account for 49% of Noah’s black viewership – the 63,000 in the demo are the most in the program’s history. The age 45-54 bracket has also reached an all-time high this year, nearly doubling from 2016, while aged 35-44 have gravitated to the show for its best numbers since 2012. Much of this can be attributed to loyal fans from the Stewart days ‘aging up’ into new demos, but there could also be an influx of new fans tuning in.
There’s no question that many viewers have shifted away from traditional, linear television and have either moved towards digital streaming platforms or opted for clips shared on social media instead of full episodes. (Digital viewership was unavailable for this analysis as it is largely self-reported from the networks.) Yet, The Daily Show’s YouTube channel has nearly 2.5 million subscribers, and its clips often have at least 1 million views within days of uploading. The most popular clip very well may be the most responsible for the show’s upward trend – Noah’s interview of former The Blaze personality and current FOX News contributor Tomi Lahren has been viewed over 7.2 million times since it aired last December.
Regardless of how one watches Comedy Central’s flagship late night show, there is no doubt that growth in both linear and digital metrics helps renew the network’s faith in Trevor Noah, so much that his recent contract extension keeps him on the show through 2022. The audience is diversifying, even as the aggregate number of white viewers also continues to rise. Yet as one of the few black faces in the history of late night television, and a news cycle continually featuring issues of concern for the black community, African-American viewers are finding a relatable face somewhere they hadn’t felt comfortable to look before.
Jason Clinkscales is the managing editor for The Sports Fan Journal, editor at Yardbarker and contributing writer for Awful Announcing. A New York City native, he is also a former media research analyst in both television networks and advertising agencies.
