Obama and Jon Stewart

One night, after the 2008 elections, we were watching the replay of the joint episode of the election day coverage by Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert. Even as we knew the outcome, we could still laugh at the antics of both comedians.

Like many other Filipinos, Chief and I were tuned in online eagerly awaiting the results of the US elections last Friday, 05 November 2008. Incidentally, that was also a significant day for Chief and myself. We had a dinner date at Le Maison, Greenbelt 5.

According to an Ad Age story by Michael Learmonth, election coverage mattered to viewers who want easy and quick access to the latest news. Who else would provide the latest news than CNN? CNN had 13.1 million viewers on election day.

The top three cable news networks -- Fox News, CNN and MSNBC all had 27.7 million viewers. These is compared with 31.9 million who watched network news, ABC, CBS and NBC. But network audience viewership dropped by 16%, according to the Ad Age story.

Even comedy shows like “Saturday Night Live,” “The Colbert Report” and “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" gained both a bigger audience and advertising revenues from brands like Apple, Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, Columbia Sportswear and even Volkswagen.

Even "30 Rock," enjoyed higher ratings.


President-elect Obama’s appearance in the Comedy Central’s "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" last October 29 had a record of 3.6 million viewers. And that not counting viewers in this part of the world.

I remember when my cousin used to watch "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" at CNN when we were still in Saigon. By the way, Jon Stewart is celebrating his birthday on the 28th of this month. He became the host of “The Daily Show” back in 1999 and won his first Emmy Award in 2001.