Comic Hasan Minhaj has been eyed as a number one candidate for the open host function at Comedy Central’s “Every day Present,” in response to three individuals accustomed to the matter, suggesting {that a} months-long bake-off for the job amongst a phalanx of prime comics is reaching its last levels.
Minhaj will not be assured to win the place, these individuals warning, and a deal will not be believed to have been finalized. Nonetheless, his identify has emerged as a possible successor to Trevor Noah, who left the job in a shock maneuver late final 12 months.
Minhaj, who labored on “Every day” as considered one of its workforce of fake “correspondents” between 2014 and 2018, and went on to function the host of a weekly program for Netflix known as “Patriot Act,” mentioned just lately that he’d be open to the gig. “I’m undoubtedly open to the dialog. It’s additionally a household dialog now. It’s a really completely different dialog then after I first bought employed on the present after I was 29 My life is in a really completely different place. And in order that’s an even bigger life/household convo. It modifications lots of issues,” he informed Selection’s Awards Circuit Podcast in Could. “It’s an all encompassing, all consuming factor. And different individuals must reside with the implications of what I say. And I simply wish to be certain that all people, if that had been to ever come to fruition, ‘hey, are all of us on board with this?’
A spokeswoman for “Every day Present” declined to remark, and WME, the company that represents Minhaj, declined to make executives out there to debate the matter. A publicist for Minhaj didn’t reply instantly to an electronic mail and a voice mail searching for extra data.
Minhaj is considered one of a small military of celebrities who’ve raised their hand to be thought-about. After Noah departed, Comedy Central crammed the present with short-term hosts resembling Minhaj, Sarah Silverman, Leslie Jones, Kal Penn and Al Franken. A piece of the present’s present group of correspondents, which embody Roy Wooden and Desi Lydic, have additionally had a flip behind the desk. Whereas late-night opponents resembling NBC’s “Tonight Present Starring Jimmy Fallon” and CBS’ “Late Present With Stephen Colbert” have stayed on the air in repeats through the present Hollywood writers’ strike, Comedy Central has not been airing any episodes of “Every day Present,” preferring to fill its grid with repeats of “South Park” and “The Workplace,” amongst different comedy collection.
Like its late-night rivals, “Every day Present” faces headwinds. The younger viewers who as soon as flocked to David Letterman and Jon Stewart have begun to maneuver elsewhere after TV’s late native information, and sometimes view late-night bits and skits by way of social media — a habits that’s tougher for the TV networks to monetize.
Comedy Central had hoped to decide a few new “Every day” host as quickly as Could, in time to speak to advertisers through the business’s annual “upfront” market, when TV networks attempt to promote the majority of their industrial time for his or her subsequent cycle of programming. Some executives concerned with the present wished to proceed testing new expertise, buoyed by the truth that reveals that includes visitor hosts earned a rankings uptick. “I feel there are lots of people who need the job,” Jen Flanz, government producer of “Every day” informed Selection earlier this 12 months. “I wish to see lots of people do it earlier than we make any sort of resolution.”
However the writers strike could have delayed these plans. Certainly, CBS had hoped to launch a brand new present at 12:30 a.m. this fall to interchange the departing James Corden. The strike has altered that timetable as properly, in response to individuals accustomed to the matter.
TV’s late-night applications proceed to generate dialogue and the threads of common tradition. However the longer reveals like NBC’s “Saturday Evening Reside” and ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Reside” stay darkish, the extra threat there may be of viewers within the period of streaming video making everlasting modifications to their consumption habits. In 2018, seven late night time applications — NBC’s “Tonight” and “Late Evening,” CBS’ “Late Present” and “Late Late Present,” ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Reside,” Comedy Central’s “Every day Present” and NBC’s “Saturday Evening Reside” — drew greater than $698 million in promoting in 2018, in response to Vivvix, a tracker of advert spending. By 2022, that whole got here to $412.7 million — a drop of roughly 41% over 5 years.
Among the hosts appear desirous to get again to their wee-hours antics. Jimmy Fallon has been noticed on social media making segments about cooking, for instance. NBC’s listings for repeats of its “Late Evening with Seth Meyers” usually embody a nod to the writers behind segments of every rebroadcast.
Naming a brand new host for “Every day Present” would little question elevate new curiosity in this system forward of any post-strike return.
— Michael Schneider contributed to this report
