The fake newscast phenomenon shows no signs of abating. Comedy Central's The Daily Show With Jon Stewart logged its most-watched month ever in February, even without benefit of a national election cycle to lampoon.
New episodes of The Daily Show averaged 1.5 million viewers for the month, up 32 percent compared with the same period a year ago, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research.
Stewart's news spoof had more than twice as many average viewers as CNN's February prime-time lineup (637,000) and nearly equaled Fox News' powerhouse 8-11 p.m. schedule (1.6 million).
The Daily Show logged 1.4 million viewers in November and December, partly due to interest surrounding the presidential election and its aftermath.
Stewart's numbers also helped drive Comedy Central to its most-watched month ever (601,000 average viewers during the total day; 1 million during prime time).
In overall basic-cable rankings for February, Nickelodeon was No. 1 for the total day (2.1 million viewers), and TNT led during prime time (2.6 million).
The Los Angeles Times is a Tribune Publishing newspaper.
