Larry Wilmore's 'The Nightly Show' Canceled by Comedy Central
The show failed to gain "traction" with the audience, the network said.
— -- Larry Wilmore's "The Nightly Show" has been axed by Comedy Central, ABC News has confirmed.
In a statement, Comedy Central said, "We thank Larry and The Nightly Show staff for their tireless efforts across the past two years and the conversations the show generated by addressing social issues of great importance to the country, always challenging people’s attitudes, perceptions and bias."
In the end, however, it came down to the show's poor ratings.
Despite much media coverage, and Wilmore's hosting the White House Correspondents Dinner in April, the show "hasn’t been translating to our audience," Comedy Central's president Kent Alterman told The Wrap. "It is really sad for us because we not only respect and value Larry, we really have such affection for him and what he’s been doing."
"When we took a hard look -- especially after the conventions, where we also didn't see any traction we were hoping for -- we didn't have enough evidence to justify committing to another year," the executive said in the statement.
Wilmore released a statement in response to the news, expressing gratitude to the network, Jon Stewart, and fans of "The Nightly Show," but added he was, "...saddened and surprised we won't be covering this crazy election or 'The Unblackening' as we’ve coined it. And keeping it 100, I guess I hadn’t counted on 'The Unblackening' happening to my time slot as well."
The last episode of "The Nightly Show," which debuted in the time slot formerly held by "The Colbert Report," will air Thursday night.
The Chris Hardwick-hosted comedy game show "@Midnight" will be bumped to an earlier 11:30 p.m. time slot until a replacement nightly show is up and running.