Jon Stewart, the acclaimed host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, has extended his contract and will remain on The Daily Show through at least 2010.  The terms of the deal with Viacom (which owns Comedy Central) have not been disclosed.  Stewart joined The Daily Show in 1999, replacing Craig Kilborn behind the desk.  Since Stewart, 44, became host, The Daily Show has transformed into a prime location on TV for political and cultural satire.  Although the ratings for The Daily Show have never been overly gaudy, the audience skews very young and the show has become a source for world news among the younger set. 

Jon Stewart's new deal may seem obvious and innocuous enough, but it may become fairly significant and have some long-reaching ramifications.  The reason the year 2010 is so important is because the landscape of network late-night programming is set to explode in 2009, when Jay Leno is set to step down from his post on The Tonight Show.  The dominoes are going to tumble at that point.  As of right now, the plan is for Conan O'Brien to take over the Tonight Show post left vacant by Leno.  There is no confirmation of who will take over Conan's place at 12:30 am on NBC, but there have been serious rumors that SNL alum Jimmy Fallon is the favorite to take over the spot.  However, Last Call host Carson Daly is campaigning hard for Conan's old post (one problem with that: Carson Daly isn't funny). 

Of course, there have been rumors that if Jon Stewart entered his name into the network ring, things could really get shaken up.  There are many different scenarios in which Stewart could affect what goes down on the networks: CBS makes room for Stewart, fires Craig Ferguson and grooms Stewart to eventually replace Letterman. Or, ABC moves Kimmel back a half-hour and gives Stewart a spot up against Letterman and Conan.  Or, Stewart takes over Conan's old spot.  Anything could happen, but Stewart's new contract appears to be an early signal that Jon is committed to The Daily Show and Comedy Central. 


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Source: Reuters
(Image Courtesy of Comedy Central)