The Opposition with Jordan Klepper Finds Ratings Success in First Week
Photo by Mary Ellen Matthews/Comedy CentralThe jury is still out on whether Jordan Klepper’s long-form satire of the alt-right media works or not. Regardless of that fact, The Opposition had a pretty good first week, according to a Comedy Central press release.
The “new late-night power hour” (as the network calls it) of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and The Opposition has given the 11 p.m. – 12 a.m. time slot a bump in ratings. The press release details this:
The premiere week of Comedy Central’s newest late night entry, The Opposition w/ Jordan Klepper, recorded year-over-year ratings increases of +43% among total viewers and +18% among Adults 18-49. Paired with The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Comedy Central’s new late night power hour saw year-over-year increases of +13% among total viewers and +4% among Adults 18-49.
For the full week, including playback (Live+3), The Opposition averaged 683,000 total viewers and a 0.39 Adults 18-49 rating. Across Comedy Central’s new late night power hour (11:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.), The Daily Show and The Opposition averaged a combined 1.1 million total viewers and a 0.54 A18-49 rating.
In short, a lot of people in Comedy Central’s target demographic (the young ‘uns) are watching their shows. The Opposition with its 11:30 p.m. slot (like The Colbert Report and the doomed The Nightly Show before it) is in a tougher position, having to contend with the likes of Kimmel, Colbert and Fallon on broadcast television. Hopefully we’ll see Klepper and his team of “citizen journalists” will continue to refine the show’s format as good ratings keep them afloat. At best, we’re looking at another Colbert Report. At worst, this experiment could very well fail and continue to energize nutjobs like Alex Jones.
The Opposition with Jordan Klepper airs every Monday to Thursday at 11:30 p.m. EDT on Comedy Central.