Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” started 2026 with its highest young adult ratings in more than eight years. According to the network, “The Daily Show” averaged a 0.579 rating among adults 18-49 in the first quarter of 2026, its best performance in the demo since the fourth quarter of 2017 (0.593).
The surge in protests was led by Monday night’s episode of “The Daily Show,” hosted by Jon Stewart, which is currently the No. 1 late-night show watched by adults ages 18 to 49. But the Tuesday-through-Thursday episodes, hosted on a rotating weekly basis by The Daily Show news team members Ronnie Chen, Josh Johnson, Jordan Klepper, Michael Costa and Desi Riddick, also posted year-over-year growth.
On a linear basis, “The Daily Show” is up 52% year-over-year among adults 18-49 this quarter compared to 2025 (0.579 rating vs. 0.381 rating). Stewart’s average ratings for Monday episodes so far this year are 18 wins, 49 losses, and a .709 rating, a 30% increase from last year’s rating of .547. The average viewer rating for the remaining episodes of this year’s Press Team was 0.521 for the 18-49 season, a significant 70% increase from last year’s 0.306 rating.
And in terms of quarterly share among adults aged 18-49, the first quarter of 2026 was the highest since the third quarter of 2015. The program’s share (3.65) increased by 44% from last year (2.53).
“The Daily Show” averaged 1.05 million total viewers, up 11% from last year’s first quarter (945,000) and its best quarter in two years.
Meanwhile, on the social front, Comedy Central reports that “The Daily Show” is the most-watched cable show in 2026 so far. “The Daily Show” had its best quarter ever in views (2.5 billion, up 56% from 2025), engagement (144.7 million, up 28%) and total hours watched (4.7 billion, up 57%).
It also said the show is the most-watched television entertainment channel on YouTube, with more than 615.5 million views.
The Daily Show airs on Comedy Central at 11pm ET and streams the next morning on Paramount+. Stewart will host Monday, and Chen will host the remaining days this week. Stewart, Chen, Johnson, Klepper, Costa and Riddick will be joined by “The Daily Show” correspondents Troy Iwata and Grace Kulenschmidt.
This week’s guests include InterAct International co-CEOs Aziz Abu Sala and Moaz Yinon on Monday, “BTS: The Return” director Bao Nguyen on Tuesday, “Miniature Wives” star Zoe Lister-Jones on Wednesday, and “Beef” creator/EP/writer/director Lee Sung-jin on Thursday.
(According to Comedy Central, data is from Nielsen Big Data + panels from Q4 ’25 to present, historical panels only, L+3 coverage ratings, national share, P18-49/L+3 000s, 3+ TCs, competitive rank based on Monday midnight/11am-3a. Sources from Social SCR, ListenFirst, Domo.)
