Jon Stewart Staying at ‘The Daily Show’ Through 2026: All the Details

Jon Stewart isn’t leaving The Daily Show anytime soon. Paramount has announced that the late-night host will continue to spearhead the decorated Comedy Central news-comedy series through December 2026, per a new deal with the comedian.

The company also announced that The Daily Show‘s News Team will continue to anchor Tuesday through Thursday episodes during this time, with Ronny Chieng, Josh Johnson, Jordan Klepper, Michael Kosta, and Desi Lydic returning alongside Troy Iwata and Grace Kuhlenschmidt. Stewart will also remain an executive producer on the program alongside Jen Flanz and Stewart’s longtime manager, James “Baby Doll” Dixon.

In a statement, Comedy Central’s head of comedy, Ari Pearce, said of the news, “Jon Stewart continues to elevate the genre he created. His return is an ongoing commitment to the incisive comedy and sharp commentary that define The Daily Show. The renewal is a win for audiences, for Comedy Central, and for all our programming partners.  We’re proud to support Jon and the extraordinary news team.”

The network also revealed that the show had a record-breaking third quarter, with its highest quarterly rating since 2021 and biggest ratings share since 2015.

Stewart, who was the full-time host of the series from 1999 until 2015, returned in 2024 to host Monday nights and recently expressed his desire for that stint to continue. As recently as October, he told The New Yorker‘s David Remnick, “We’re working on staying,” when asked if he was going to sign a new contract with the network.  Stewart was originally contracted to return, starting February 12, 2024, through to 2025, ahead of the general election. His contract was extended in October 2024 to continue into 2025.

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The Daily Show first premiered in 1996 with Craig Kilborn as the anchor until 1998. Stewart then took over, and his signature wit and gift for sarcasm reshaped the course of the show and its fiery focus on politics. When he retired from the show in 2015, Trevor Noah took over and hosted until 2022. After that, the show was hosted with a rotating panel of different guest stars, including Wanda Sykes, Al Franken, Sarah Silverman, Leslie Jones, Kal Penn, D.L. Hughley, Marlon Wayans, John Leguizamo, Hasan Minhaj, Chelsea Handler, and other show correspondents.

The Daily Show, weeknights, 11/10c, Comedy Central