Is Trevor Noah good enough?

American website Salon has published a scathing and critical article of the new Daily Show host Trevor Noah. And, it has gone viral in South Africa. The article which alludes to the fact that Noah is unworthy successor to previous host Jon Stewart has many up in arms.

Writer, Sophia A McClennen also talks about the show’s ratings. More specifically Nielsen ratings which has shown a 37% drop in the viewership since Noah has taken over the show. This, despite the fact that Noah has brought the ratings in the 18-24 demographic by upping them by 20% and increased on-demand streams for the show by 44%.

The writer goes on to say: …we have to ask is whether Noah can be the caliber of political satirist that Stewart was when he hosted the show. It really is the only question that matters. In addition, Noah’s status as an outsider is also one of the focuses of the opinion piece. Shortly after Noah was announced to follow Stewart, I cautioned that his status as an “outsider” to U.S. politics would be a problem. She adds. Finally, she concludes: And they will claim that he was a very politically significant comedian in South Africa. Fair enough. But if we are going to consider whether Noah is “beating” Stewart, it does seem reasonable to ask: in what way?

Noah was recently in hospital after receiving an emergency appendectomy, skipping one episode of the show. He will be in South Africa this month for the Comedy Central International Comedy Festival.