Trevor Noah Steps Down From The Daily Show After 7 Years. But Were The Numbers Against Him?
Fans and the audience of The Daily Show were treated to a huge surprise on 29 September 2022 when the long-time host Trevor Noah announced that he would step down as the host. However, Comedy Central is yet to announce when his last show will be. Talking about his retirement from the show Noah said,
“…it has been seven years since we started The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. When we first started, so many people didn’t believe in us. It was a crazy bet to make—I still think it was a crazy choice. I realized that after seven years, my time is up.”
There was a shocked but muffled response at the revelation from the audience. Trevor Noah described his time as the host of the show as one of his greatest challenges and joys and did not hold back his gratitude to the audience.
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Trevor Noah did not stop at announcing his retirement from The Daily Show. He also gave his audience a hint at what life after the show would be for him. According to him, there was the other part of his life that he discovered while locked in his home during the pandemic—and would want to explore.
“I spent two years in my apartment, not on the road. When I got back out there again, I realized that there was another part of my life I want to carry on exploring. I miss learning all the languages, I missed going to other countries and putting on a show. I miss being everywhere doing everything.”
Is Trevor Noah’s departure a case of leaving when the ovation is highest?
While Trevor Noah tried to explain the reason for his departure in his Sept. 29 monologue, many think there is much more to his resignation than trying to find personal fulfillment. One argument that resonated is that the viewer numbers were against him.
How have viewers reacted to The Daily Show since Noah got onboard? Trevor Noah took over as the host of The Daily Show in 2015 after the departure of the former host Jon Stewart who was at the helm of the show for 15 years. The Daily Show airs on Comedy Central on weekdays at 11 p.m. ET.
On his opening show, Noah pulled in 1.1 million viewers. In early 2017 under Noah, the show’s rating reached 1.5 million. In comparison, Jon Stewart pulled 2.5 million viewers in 2015 which was also his last year on the show. In 2022, only about 200,000 people were watching The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
However, the figures were not all gloomy with Trevor Noah. Throughout The Daily Show’s history, the show had the most diverse viewers under Noah. Steward ended with 75,000 Black viewers per night. At his peak, Noah had 87,000 Black viewers.
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Also, about 74% of Noah’s viewers were 18 and 49 years old. This shows that Noah appealed to a younger audience. Others also argue that his large young audience was also why The Daily Show viewership plummeted as most of the young audience are now turning to shorter comedy clips online. So, will he be really missed with the figures stacked against him?
Trevor Noah’s exploits outside The Daily Show
While still a host at The Daily Show, Trevor Noah had a thriving career exploring other creative aspects of his life. His memoir, ‘Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood’ released in 2016 went on to become a bestseller. The memoir is now on its way to a film adaptation.
Also, he was the host of the 2021 and 2022 Grammy Awards. Later in April 2022, he made headlines once again for the White House correspondents’ dinner. His October 1 and 2, 2022 ‘Back To Abnormal World Tour’ in Canada was sold out.
The sale for his upcoming show in South Africa went on sale on 27 September 2022. According to the timeline he revealed, the 12-day show will run from 31 August to 15 September 2023.
Who takes over from Trevor Noah as The Daily Show Host?
There are already speculations on who will take over from Trevor Noah on The Daily Show. Many believe that his successor is someone that is already on our television screens. Fingers are already pointing at Snooki, Ruffin, and Amber to succeed the 38-year-old South African.
Meanwhile, the Comedy Central team has put a lid on who would succeed Trevor Noah. A statement credited to a Comedy Central spokesman and published by the Hollywood Reporter on Oct. 2 read,
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“Subsequently, we will flip over to the next chapter of The Daily Show and all our amazing correspondents will top the list. Till then, we will focus on celebrating Trevor and appreciating him for his numerous contributions.”
The correspondents that are currently with The Daily Show are Roy Wood Jr. Ronny Chieng, Dulce Sloan, Desi Lydic, and Michael Kosta. Irrespective of many speculations that The Daily Show will move to Paramount+, THR confirmed that it would remain on Comedy Central.
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