Paramount renews deal with Jon Stewart as 'Daily Show' host amid upheaval at company

By Lukas I. Alpert

Speculation had swirled around Stewart's future at Comedy Central after new owners took charge of parent company Paramount and began making big changes

Jon Stewart has agreed to a one-year extension of his contract to host Comedy Central's "The Daily Show."

Jon Stewart's future at "The Daily Show" had been one of the biggest questions looming over Paramount under its new owners. Now it's been resolved: He's staying.

The late-night host has reached an agreement to extend his contract for another year after months of speculation over whether David Ellison's push for change at Paramount would leave Stewart without a future there.

"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,'" Comedy Central head Ari Pearce said in a statement. "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."

Stewart will continue to host the show one night a week until at least the end of 2026.

Stewart's return resolves the last big question as to who among the major stars at Paramount Skydance Corp. (PSKY) would remain after Ellison closed a deal to acquire the company in August. Since then, the company has undergone rapid change.

Paramount's stock closed Monday up 0.2%, reversing an earlier loss of as much as 3.4% to an eight-month low of $14.87 in intraday trading.

Shortly before the takeover, Paramount announced it was canceling late-night host Stephen Colbert's top-rated show on CBS, a move some media watchers said was the result of political pressure. That followed an agreement by Paramount to pay President Donald Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit in which he accused CBS of deceptively editing an interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign.

Most legal experts considered the lawsuit baseless and the settlement to have been made under pressure. After Paramount reached the agreement, Colbert expressed his displeasure with the deal, calling it a "big fat bribe." Two days later, Colbert's show was canceled. Colbert had previously been scathingly critical of Trump on air.

Stewart, who is close friends with Colbert and has also been deeply critical of Trump on air, had openly criticized the axing of Colbert's show. In a recent New Yorker interview, Stewart said that Paramount had "already done things that I'm upset about. But then if I had integrity, maybe I would stand up and go, 'I'm out.' Or maybe the integrity thing to do would be to stay in it and keep fighting in the foxhole."

Around the same time Colbert's departure was announced, Paramount also settled on a long-term contract extension with the creators of "South Park."

Soon after taking over the company, Ellison also inked a $7.7 billion, seven-year deal with TKO Group Holdings Inc. (TKO) for the rights to broadcast UFC's mixed-martial-arts fights. He also lured the Duffer brothers, the creators of "Stranger Things," away from Netflix Inc. (NFLX).

Last week, Paramount Skydance's biggest hitmaker, Taylor Sheridan, decided to leave the company and sign a $1 billion deal with a major rival, Comcast Corp.'s (CMCSA) NBCUniversal.

Read: What will Paramount look like when the Ellisons are done with it?

Paramount also announced the beginning of long-expected layoffs, with 1,000 U.S. employees leaving the company. Another 1,000 are expected to follow soon, together totaling about 10% of the company's workforce.

Paramount also signed a 10-year deal to move a large part of its studio operations to Bayonne, N.J., to take advantage of beneficial tax treatment there.

At the same time, Paramount has been aggressively trying to scoop up rival Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (WBD), offering increasingly higher prices per share. So far, Ellison's offers have been rebuffed.

This all comes as Paramount has sought to remake its CBS News unit. Earlier this month, Paramount acquired the Free Press, a right-of-center news site, for $150 million and made its founder, the polemicist Bari Weiss, editor in chief of CBS's news operations. Earlier this week, John Dickerson, anchor of "CBS Evening News," announced he was leaving the network.

-Lukas I. Alpert

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