"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" Tops the Competition in May as the Most-Watched Late Night Talk Show Among Persons 18-49, Persons 18-34, Persons 18-24, Men 18-34 and Men 18-24

NEW YORK, June 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" continued to be the top destination for young viewers during the month of May as the COMEDY CENTRAL series finished as the #1 late night talk show among Persons 18-49, Persons 18-34, Persons 18-24, Men 18-34 and Men 18-24 across all of television, both broadcast and cable.  Especially strong among P18-34 and M18-34 viewers, "The Daily Show" and lead-out "The Colbert Report" were the only late night talk shows to show year-over-year ratings increases in these key demographics.  The Emmy^® and Peabody^® Award-winning series also maintained its dominant position online with the most Unique Visitors and Time Spent on its companion Web site, thedailyshow.com, and reported the highest median income for its viewers among all late night talk shows.  (sources: Nielsen Media Research, most current data, original episodes only; comScore MediaMetrix; see charts below for detailed data)

For the month of May 2011, "The Daily Show" averaged 2.3 million total viewers and a 1.2 P18-49 rating.  Versus May 2010, "The Daily Show" grew an astounding +19% in total viewers, with incredible double-digit ratings growth across all key demos including P18-49 (up +21%), P18-34 (+22%), P18-24 (+21%), M18-34 (+18%) and M18-24 (+21%).

"The Daily Show's" 1.344 million P18-49 viewers led all late night talk shows in the demo for the month and, with a 2011 YTD average of 1.25 million P18-49 viewers, "The Daily Show" trails only "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (1.27 million P18-49 viewers) in the benchmark demographic for the calendar year crown.

"The Colbert Report," also had a memorable month in May, widening its lead over "Conan" and solidifying the #2 slot in cable among late night talk shows behind "The Daily Show" in total delivery and P18-49 with an average audience of 1.56 million total viewers for the month of May, nearly 600,000 more viewers than third place "Conan" which slipped to an average audience of just 975,000 total viewers, its lowest monthly average since last year's launch on TBS.  The Emmy^® and Peabody^® Award-winning "Colbert Report" also dominated among young men, finishing the month behind only "The Daily Show" in all of late night, broadcast and cable, among P18-34, P18-24, M18-34 and M18-24, providing COMEDY CENTRAL with the top two spots across all of television in these key demos.

"The Colbert Report" also exhibited strong year-over-year growth in total delivery (1.6 million total viewers, up +14%), with ratings growth among P18-49 (0.9, up +17%), P18-34 (+12%), P18-24 (+7%), M18-34 (+14%) and M18-24 (+7%).

On the digital front, show sites for "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" were the top two sites among all late night show sites in Unique Visitors and Total Minutes/Time Spent during April 2011 (the last full month of data reported by comScore MediaMetrix), with thedailyshow.com dominating the field with 2.6 million Unique Visitors and 21 million minutes Time Spent on the site, three times the amount of time spent on third-place TeamCoco.com and triple the combined total time spent on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "The Late Show with David Letterman," "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," and "Lopez Tonight."  (source: comScore MediaMetrix, 4/1/11-4/30/11; see chart below for detailed data)

In addition to their linear and digital dominance, "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" also boast the most affluent viewership with "The Daily Show" viewers earning a median household income of $78,000 to rank #1 among all late night talk shows, broadcast and cable.  Viewers of "The Colbert Report" place second with a median income of $73,000.  (source: Nielsen Media Research; see chart below for detailed data)

COMEDY CENTRAL's incredible success in late night was matched in prime time, with the channel registering its most-watched May in history among total viewers, P18-49, P18-34, P18-24, M18-34 and M18-24.  Versus May 2010, total delivery in prime was up +14%, with ratings up double-digits among P18-49 (up +20%), P18-34 (+24%), P18-24 (+26%), M18-34 (+26%) and M18-24 (+24%).

Source: Nielsen Media Research, most current data, 4/25/11-5/29/11, original episodes only

Source: Nielsen Media Research, most current data, original episodes only Cable data (4/25/11-5/29/11); Broadcast data (4/25/11-5/22/11)

Source: comScore MediaMetrix, 4/1/11-4/30/11 (note: no comScore data available for "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," "Chelsea Lately" or "The Mo'Nique Show")

Source: Nielsen Media Research, 2011 YTD

SOURCE COMEDY CENTRAL Corporate Communications