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Apple Cancelled Jon Stewart Because Tech Executives Were Afraid of the Truth

27 points by charles_f 3y ago

inanutshellus 3y ago
Apple is afraid of "Truth"! Click now!
- add-sub-mul-div 3y ago
  > Click now and you too can know Apple's dirty secret of fearing ... /Truth/! We don't need an army of hall monitors racing to be the first or loudest to proclaim why a title should be considered clickbait. It's become significantly more annoying than bad titles.
  - lucasmullens 3y ago
    This one is quite bad though, and generally articles with clickbait titles aren't worth reading imo, since there's likely less sensationalized article on the topic somewhere else.
  - inanutshellus 3y ago
    AFAIK there's no other way to affect change on HN's submission titles than to mention it (ideally with a bit of humor?)
karaterobot 3y ago
Techdirt is quickly becoming the site I trust the least that gets the most front page attention on HN.
- weikju 3y ago
  Same, I read a couple techdirt rants a few months ago and decided to never click on techdirt links ever again
reidjs 3y ago
Never watched the full show, but I’ve seen some clips. It didn’t seem that funny. It’s probably cursed bc it had to live up to the reputation of the daily show.
- jsbisviewtiful 3y ago
  Its point wasn't to be funny. It was more on the educational side.
goblin89 3y ago
It’s well-known[0] that discussing China-related politics is off limits for Apple-affiliated content producers. Along with removing relevant apps and blocking relevant Airdrop features coincidentally right during Hong Kong protests, with giving up iCloud infrastructure, etc. (are there more examples?), can’t help wondering how far their collaboration goes. On one hand, it was a matter of time that Stewart’s new show would be cancelled if he had any integrity. On the other hand, the show was IMHO not at his previous level based on the first few episodes. [0] https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/10/apple-tv-china-censors https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/10/apple-tv-china-...
daft_pink 3y ago
Jon Stewart is just trying to distract us from the fact that the show was a flop and didn't generate enough ratings to justify its existence. Pretending he walked away because of his ethics, not because few people were watching and his show was not a commercial success.
- RunawayGalaxy 3y ago
  Do you have any evidence at all to this assertion?
  - pauldenton 3y ago
    The Problem with Jon Stewart,” which launched on AppleTV+ in September, appears to be a flop, as it trails far behind its competitors on broadcast and cable TV, according to Bloomberg. The show’s first episode was seen by just 180,000 US homes in the first week it debuted last fall, measurement firm Samba TV said. That number dropped to 78% to 40,000 by its fifth episode, which aired in early March. Stewart’s comic rival John Oliver, meanwhile, pulled in viewership of 844,000 US homes for a March episode of his HBO show, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” For reference The Daily Show with Jon Stewart had 1 million viewers in 2003, and by the time Jon left the program was averaging 2.5 million viewers.
4w5gw45y 3y ago
Given how well known Apple's dependence on cheap and/or child Chinese labor is, I was surprised Jon Stewart was willing to sign a deal with them in the first place. Sure, Apple TV is a big platform with a wide reach, which is attractive to anyone in entertainment, but did he really expect them to allow him to broach subjects in ways that would threaten their bottom line?
ChrisArchitect 3y ago
[dupe] Many active threads on this days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37950194 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37950194 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37966643 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37966643 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37955468 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37955468
taylodl 3y ago
Networks don't like shows that don't make money and/or increase viewership. That's it and that's all. Everyone loves to look for hidden motives when in reality everything literally boils down to money.

27 points by charles_f 3y ago

inanutshellus 3y ago

Apple is afraid of "Truth"! Click now!

add-sub-mul-div 3y ago
> Click now and you too can know Apple's dirty secret of fearing ... /Truth/! We don't need an army of hall monitors racing to be the first or loudest to proclaim why a title should be considered clickbait. It's become significantly more annoying than bad titles.
- lucasmullens 3y ago
  This one is quite bad though, and generally articles with clickbait titles aren't worth reading imo, since there's likely less sensationalized article on the topic somewhere else.
- inanutshellus 3y ago
  AFAIK there's no other way to affect change on HN's submission titles than to mention it (ideally with a bit of humor?)

karaterobot 3y ago

Techdirt is quickly becoming the site I trust the least that gets the most front page attention on HN.

weikju 3y ago
Same, I read a couple techdirt rants a few months ago and decided to never click on techdirt links ever again

reidjs 3y ago

Never watched the full show, but I’ve seen some clips. It didn’t seem that funny. It’s probably cursed bc it had to live up to the reputation of the daily show.

jsbisviewtiful 3y ago
Its point wasn't to be funny. It was more on the educational side.

goblin89 3y ago

It’s well-known[0] that discussing China-related politics is off limits for Apple-affiliated content producers. Along with removing relevant apps and blocking relevant Airdrop features coincidentally right during Hong Kong protests, with giving up iCloud infrastructure, etc. (are there more examples?), can’t help wondering how far their collaboration goes. On one hand, it was a matter of time that Stewart’s new show would be cancelled if he had any integrity. On the other hand, the show was IMHO not at his previous level based on the first few episodes. [0] https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/10/apple-tv-china-censors https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/10/apple-tv-china-...

daft_pink 3y ago

Jon Stewart is just trying to distract us from the fact that the show was a flop and didn't generate enough ratings to justify its existence. Pretending he walked away because of his ethics, not because few people were watching and his show was not a commercial success.

RunawayGalaxy 3y ago
Do you have any evidence at all to this assertion?
- pauldenton 3y ago
  The Problem with Jon Stewart,” which launched on AppleTV+ in September, appears to be a flop, as it trails far behind its competitors on broadcast and cable TV, according to Bloomberg. The show’s first episode was seen by just 180,000 US homes in the first week it debuted last fall, measurement firm Samba TV said. That number dropped to 78% to 40,000 by its fifth episode, which aired in early March. Stewart’s comic rival John Oliver, meanwhile, pulled in viewership of 844,000 US homes for a March episode of his HBO show, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” For reference The Daily Show with Jon Stewart had 1 million viewers in 2003, and by the time Jon left the program was averaging 2.5 million viewers.

4w5gw45y 3y ago

Given how well known Apple's dependence on cheap and/or child Chinese labor is, I was surprised Jon Stewart was willing to sign a deal with them in the first place. Sure, Apple TV is a big platform with a wide reach, which is attractive to anyone in entertainment, but did he really expect them to allow him to broach subjects in ways that would threaten their bottom line?

ChrisArchitect 3y ago

[dupe] Many active threads on this days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37950194 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37950194 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37966643 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37966643 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37955468 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37955468

taylodl 3y ago

Networks don't like shows that don't make money and/or increase viewership. That's it and that's all. Everyone loves to look for hidden motives when in reality everything literally boils down to money.