Trevor Noah debut watched by 7.5 million Americans

On Comedy Central in America, ratings among adults aged 18 to 34 soared by 41% and the show’s median age dropped by six years (to 46) from when respected presenter Jon Stewart presented the show.

The premiere also drew its third-largest live and same day gross average audience in the series’ storied history, with 3.7 million total viewers tuning in across the night. 

In addition, the premiere of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah was the number 1 TV series on Nielsen Social Guide for the day ranked on unique audience among all non-sports programming.

Every news outlet from CNN to The Guardian has had its say on Trevor Noah’s debut on The Daily Show, and for the most part, it’s positive.

“…the biggest takeaway from Noah’s first swing at succeeding Jon Stewart was the new host’s energy and exuberant confidence – something most take weeks, if not months, to find,” wrote David Simms on theatlantic.com.

A poll on E!Online yesterday saw 93.5% of voters saying they loved the show’s new host and executive producer. Predictably, Noah’s more risqué material was questioned by some. A joke about Whitney Houston’s death, as well as a play on the word “aides” received a few raised eyebrows.

Others felt that there wasn’t enough of a contrast between Noah’s show and the one hosted by Jon Stewart. However, he was praised for his opening monologue as well as for a bit he did with correspondent Jordan Klepper.

In the former, he paid homage to Stewart, and wittily addressed the fact that Amy Poehler had apparently turned down the hosting gig. In the latter, he played dumb while Klepper used the resignation of House Speaker John Boehner – to make comments about how Noah may fail.

Noah’s first guest, comedian Kevin Hart, proved to be a bit of a handful for his host.