Liberal TV viewers have a new mantra: TGIM!
Monday night saw a sudden surge in the Nielsen ratings and national attention, driven by a rare coincidence: Two TV superstars from the political left Limited regularly scheduled broadcasts That night.
Jon Stewart, host of “The Daily Show” and a guiding light for the Democratic Party during the Bush and Obama administrations, who made a surprise return in February, is now hosting his old show at 11 p.m. Mondays. Rachel Maddow, who retired from her evening job at MSNBC in 2022, kept her dedicated hour every Monday at 9 p.m.
In an age of media exhaustion, the weekly shows have become more like appointment viewing: Ms. Maddow's Monday show is by far MSNBC's most-watched hour of programming of the week, and Mr. Stewart's “Daily Show” has significantly outperformed its other weekday night shows, becoming a rare blockbuster hit for Comedy Central.
For Democrats worried about a close election, Ms. Maddow and Ms. Stewart offer special comfort as veteran partisan warriors who have guided viewers through a tumultuous political era.
“'Tell me it's OK' is what I hear most often,” said Martin Kaplan, who runs the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California, adding that Stewart's monologue is now the first thing he hears from friends on Tuesday mornings. “'Did you see it? Did you hear it? Were you watching?'”
Their success Monday was a testament to the staying power of TV personalities who established themselves among viewers years before the news industry splintered into hundreds of smaller outlets.
For decades, the conventional wisdom about talk shows was that they needed a dedicated host on five nights a week to build an audience because people needed to get accustomed to the show. But in this new age of irregularly scheduled podcasts and on-demand streaming entertainment, it seems viewers can get by with just tuning in every now and again.
Also appearing on Monday night is a rising star among anti-Trump viewers: Jen Psaki, the former press secretary for President Biden, whose MSNBC show airs once a week in primetime on Mondays at 8 p.m. Since its debut in October, Psaki's show has seen a 9 percent increase in viewership.
While the hosts agree on many things (for example, none of them think Trump is fit to return to the presidency), their opinions represent a range of viewpoints on the political left. Stewart, in particular, broke with Democratic orthodoxy by mocking Biden's advanced age and noting that many voters have concerns about his physical and cognitive health.
Stewart's first monologue in February was intercut with White House aides arguing with the president's intelligence, urging him to “tape it! Let's show it to people!” and a headline calling the 2024 election an “Antiques Roadshow.”
Mary Trump, Trump's niece and relentless critic, slammed Stewart's joke, calling it “'both sides are the same' rhetoric” and a “potential disaster for democracy.”
But judging by the crowds that lined the streets Monday afternoon outside “The Daily Show” studios on Manhattan's Far West Side, Stewart's disruptive behavior has not dampened the enthusiasm of his fan base.
Tom Roker, 46, drove two hours from Pennsylvania with his wife for a recent taping. They hadn't been regular viewers of “The Daily Show” until Ms. Stewart persuaded them to start watching again.
“We're going to tape everything, and I want to get Monday's show, so I'm going to tape it,” Roker said as he waited in line.
During an interview last month, Alexis Miller, a 41-year-old urban planner from Winnipeg, Canada, praised Stewart as a “cultural force.”
“He's someone who jokes with everyone equally and isn't the type to say vulgar things,” she said.
Demand for tickets to attend Stewart's Monday taping is significantly higher than for other days of the week, according to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of internal discussions.
And the show's ratings bear out that level of excitement: Stewart's “The Daily Show” averages 1.7 million viewers, more than double the ratings from his predecessor, Trevor Noah, among his core audience, according to Nielsen data that includes three-day delayed viewing.
Nielsen said the show, which alternates between hosts every other day of the week, reaches an audience of about 770,000 people.
Stewart's return has benefited the show as a whole. When “The Daily Show” featured a series of guest hosts last year, the show averaged about 620,000 viewers from February through May, according to Nielsen. When Trevor Noah hosted “The Daily Show” in 2022, the show averaged just over 550,000 viewers.
Maddow's show has averaged 2.5 million viewers this year. MSNBC host Alex Wagner averages 1.4 million viewers on weekdays except Mondays at 9 p.m.
Maddow continues to appear on MSNBC during major political events, such as primary nights and the State of the Union address. Some fans record her Monday show to watch later. “The Rachel Maddow Show” has the highest recorded viewership of any MSNBC show, with more than 900,000 additional viewers tuning in the week following its Monday broadcast, according to Nielsen.
Of course, conservative cable-news hosts have loyal fans: In May, Fox News' shows “The Five” (3 million) and “Jesse Watters Primetime” (2.7 million) averaged more viewers than Ms. Maddow (2.4 million).
After leaving “The Daily Show” in 2015, Stewart tried his hand at his own streaming show, “The Problem,” which is released weekly on Apple TV+. Stewart left the show after differences with Apple executives, but he also had trouble gaining audience support.
But it was his return to his old base in the cable television industry that propelled Stewart back into the political spotlight.
“I watched his show as a kid, years ago,” Alex Forlenza, a 24-year-old researcher at Columbia University, said while waiting in line to tape with Stewart. “'The Problem' wasn't that good, but I'm enjoying him on 'The Daily Show' so far.”
J. Edward Moreno Contributed report.