Jon Stewart struck a four-year production deal with HBO, boosting Time Warner's share by 2 percent during midday trading.
According to a report published on Forbes, Stewart's main job for the network is to create web content. He will cover current events, which will be refreshed on HBO NOW many times everyday. HBO in a statement said, "The partnership marks the next phase of Stewart's groundbreaking career, beginning with short-form digital content, which will be showcased on HBO NOW, HBO GO and other platforms." HBO NOW was just launched earlier this year to cater to people who don't want to pay for a cable channel. It is a strategy to position for continued growth.
The news of Stewart's deal comes in a time when Time Warner's stocks are being battered, with the media company's shares dropping to almost 10 percent this year. 21st Century Fox, Viacom, and CBS also suffered the same bludgeoning in the market.
Stewart said, "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."
CNN Money writes that Stewart will produce timely short digital content where he comments on current events. He is working with OTOY, a graphics company who said Stewart's work will go online early next year.
NPR reported that Stewart seems to be following the footsteps of fellow former The Daily Show correspondent John Oliver, who also now has his own weekly show at a different cable network. When he left The Daily Show in February, Stewart said he had ideas for other possible projects.
In another note, Media companies are finding it hard to adjust to the fast-changing arena of entertainment where more and more people choose to pay for cable packages. Just this August, Disney went into a media stock sell-off due to the dwindling cable subscriptions, which affects its revenues.
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