“The next phase of [Jon] Stewart’s groundbreaking career,” reads a press release from HBO, has officially begun. Calling it a whole new “phase” isn’t an overstatement, it seems, as the press release in question comes announcing a four year contract the former Daily Show host signed with the premium cable network.
The contract, however, is somewhat vague. It begins with a seemingly light project Stewart will be undertaking for HBO, but other forms of production on Stewart’s part seem likely to come along at some point, as the press release states that “additional projects will be announced as they are confirmed,” and as its subheading announces that the deal only “kicks off” with the “short-form digital content project.”
What has thus far been officially confirmed is that Stewart will be developing some mysterious “new technology” with OTOY (whose homepage describes them as a company that “bring[s] you an integrated pipeline for making and distributing 3D content”) to create aforementioned short-form digital content that’s “timely” and “will be refreshed on HBO NOW multiple times throughout the day.”
Ultimately, it sounds a bit like a fragmented Daily Show, with the release describing it as Stewart “view[ing] current events through his unique prism.” Yet it also seems in keeping with Stewart’s reasons for leaving The Daily Show to, you know, live life. “Appearing on television 22 minutes a night clearly broke me. I’m pretty sure I can produce a few minutes of content every now and again,” Stewart said in a statement. Indeed, it sounds like for right now he’ll be able to go about his day as any normal rich person — with the tiny burden of having to occasionally drop in to video blog about breaking news. After all, he has four years to take on a heavier workload.
“We’re thrilled to welcome back his immense talents in this next chapter of his career,” said Michael Lombardo, President of HBO Programming.