Comedy Central Extends Jon Stewart’s ‘The Daily Show’ Through 2026

Jon Stewart’s sarcastic humor may have pissed off his new owners, but they went ahead and extended the comedian’s run at Comedy Central through December 2026.

The channel’s parent company, Paramount, announced Monday that Stewart will continue to host “The Daily Show” on Monday nights and serve as an executive producer through the end of next year.

Members of the show’s news team will continue to share hosting duties Tuesday through Thursday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Jon Stewart continues to elevate the genre he created. His return is a continued commitment to the sophisticated comedy and sharp commentary that defined The Daily Show,” Air Pearce, Comedy Central editor, said in a prepared statement. “We are proud to support Jon and the extraordinary news team.”

Stewart’s contract was upped again about four months after Paramount-owned sister network CBS informed Stephen Colbert, who rose to fame on “The Daily Show,” that it was dumping the late-night show at the end of the season. The cancellation came days after Colbert accused Paramount of a $16 million settlement it agreed to pay President Trump to end a lawsuit over the editing of “60 Minutes.” Colbert called the arrangement “a big fat bribe.”

Paramount settled the Trump suit to get approval from the Trump administration for its sale to David Ellison’s Skydense Media and Redbird Capital Partners. CBS has said that the reason for Colbert’s termination was financial, not political, although many people have expressed doubts.

Ellison took ownership of Paramount in August. Stewart has joked that he, too, may be ousted as the company tries to shift itself to the political center.

Since acquiring the media conglomerate that also includes MTV, BET, Nickelodeon and the Hollywood-based Paramount Pictures movie studio, the company has made big bets, including $7.7 billion for the rights to UFC fights and paying Matt Stone and Trey Parker $1.25 billion over five years to continue making their “South Commerce Park” cartoon Central Park and Cartoon Cartoon Stream. Ellison and his team also lured Matt and Ross Duffer, the two friends behind “Stranger Things,” from Netflix, paying $150 million to buy the Free Press and bringing their co-founder Barry Weiss into the company as editor of CBS News.

Paramount also signed a 10-year lease for a film and television production facility under construction in New Jersey.

Last week, the company began a deep round of layoffs, cutting 1,000 employees with plans to cut another 1,000 in the coming weeks, in an effort to reduce its workforce by 10%. About 100 people at CBS News were involved in the layoffs.

After a nine-year absence, Stewart returned as host in February 2024. He hosted the show for 16 years before taking a break in 2015. His current contract had expired.

The show was hosted by Trevor Noah until 2022, when he stepped down. It featured a host of guests, including Cal Penne, Charlemagne Tha God, Sarah Silverman and Michelle Wolf.

Last month, during a conversation with The New Yorker at a cultural festival, Stewart was asked if he might stay longer. “We’re working to stay,” Stewart told The New Yorker’s David Remnick.

“The Daily Show” hosts will also include Ronnie Cheng, Josh Johnson, Jordan Klepper, Michael Costa and Desi Lyddick, along with Troy Iwata and Grace Kohlinschmidt.