Comedy Central’s “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore” is coming to an end. According to the New York Times, “The Nightly Show” saw an average of 776,000 viewers per night in 2016, while “The Colbert Report” was seeing an average 1.7 million viewers in its previous year on air. (Wilmore had always been a strong presence on The Daily Show with John Stewart.) Wilmore’s last episode will air Thursday.
Advertisement
Wilmore served as the Daily Show’s Senior Black Correspondent from 2006 until hosting The Nightly Show in January 2015.
“The Nightly Show” was pulling a dismal 0.2 rating among viewers under 50 and 776,000 total viewers this year, and it never created much buzz.
In a statement obtained by the Times, Wilmore lamented the fate of his show.
“I’m really grateful to Comedy Central, Jon Stewart, and our fans to have had this opportunity”, Wilmore said in a statement given to Variety.
Alterman also said he would be surprised if Wilmore were surprised by the news because of ongoing discussions about the show not getting enough viewers, engagement, or social shares. And keeping it 100, I guess I hadn’t counted on “The Unblackening’ happening to my time slot as well”.
“@Midnight With Chris Hardwick” will take over the 10:30 p.m. slot temporarily as of next week.
HollywoodLifers, are you upset that The Nightly Show has been canceled?
The answer is “nuanced and complex”, Alterman said, and isn’t an indication that his show failed to cross racial lines.
Comedy Central is saying “good night” to Larry Wilmore. It’s yet to be announced if this will be a permanent move or if there will be another replacement show to follow The Daily Show.
Advertisement
‘We’re just gonna begin development and see where we go, ‘ he said. “It wasn’t about the election; it’s about another year of the show”, Alterman added.
