Two years after replacing Jon Stewart as host of “The Daily Show,” Trevor Noah is riding high, attracting the largest audiences of his career and getting a long contract extension.
Comedy Central, owned by Viacom, said Thursday it extended Noah’s run as host of the late-night program through 2022. The company also asked the 33-year-old South African native to take on year-end specials and has made him an executive producer of the forthcoming late show “The Opposition.”
“We never had any doubts or lack of confidence, but as he’s done the job he just keeps elevating,” Comedy Central President Kent Alterman said in an interview.
That success is welcome relief for a network that’s struggled in recent years. Like MTV and BET, two other Viacom networks, Comedy Central has lost viewers to online competitors Netflix and YouTube, and its prime-time ratings continue to suffer. The parent company, which has undergone its own management upheavals in the past couple years, recently pulled Comedy Central shows from Hulu.