Chris Hardwicke’s schedule is only going to be more busy, since his Comedy Central late night talk show @midnight has been picked up for another 40 weeks.
The news means that the network is fully committed to expanding its light night roster to an hour and a half, as @midnight will follow the 11:00 one-two punch of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report.
According to Deadline, which first reported the news last night, the Funny Or Die production has been a hit with younger viewers, since the median age is 32. It is ranked No. 3 among late night shows in several key demographics, including Men 18-34, Men 18-24 and total viewers 18-24. In total viewers, it has averaged 624,000, easily topping another new cable late night show, TBS’ The Pete Holmes Show.
The news was later confirmed by the network on Friday. Hardwicke also shared the news with his audience.
“We're amazed at how quickly ‘@midnight’ has resonated with our fans,” Kent Alterman, President, Content Development and Original Programming, said in a statement. “If the internet catches on and social media becomes a part of pop culture, we think we'll really have something here.”
Hardwicke also hosts AMC’s Talking Dead, which airs live on Sunday nights, following a new episode of The Walking Dead. The host tweeted that new episodes of @midnight will premiere on Jan. 6.
THANK YOU to everyone who’s been watching & participating in @midnight!! After tonight we’ll be back w/ new shows Jan 6th!! #butts
— Chris Hardwick (@nerdist) November 15, 2013
image: Comedy Central screenshot