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The Secret Weapon Behind ‘Daily Show,’ ‘Colbert Report,’ ‘Last Week Tonight,’ and More

June 11 2014 by Jennifer Miller

Have you ever wondered how Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert and John Oliver are able to sift through all the chaos of cable news to bring you the most ridiculous of the ridiculous?

Like a media-focused Indiana Jones, Editor Tony Maglio from TheWrap.com set out to explore just how these shows are able to stay current with face-paced news and media night-after-night. What he discovered was the secret technology behind your favorite late-night comedy shows. (Spoiler Alert: The secret technology is SnapStream!)

Read the full article at TheWrap.com.

Media Monitoring Software

The Worldview of News Satire TV Shows, like The Daily Show

July 30 2012 by Rachel Abbott

If you've heard of SnapStream's TV monitoring technology, you've likely heard The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report mentioned in the same breath. While we can't take credit for Jon Stewart's acerbic on-air personality or Stephen Colbert's deadpan delivery, we can say one thing: we are the television search technology behind the news-driven humor.

Yup, our very own closed-captioning search technology is at work on the TV production sets of both of these Emmy-award-winning shows. For this reason, we at SnapStream have a special place in our hearts for the TV genre of news satire, or "fake news." So, this got us thinking, when did this trend come into vogue? Are there mock newscast shows in other countries? Who are The Daily Show equivalents worldwide? It turns out, The Daily Show's international impact is pretty astounding.

First let's flash back: The 1960s marked the era of Britain's satire boom in broadcast, with the groundbreaking That Was the Week That Was on BBC. In 1975, Saturday Night Live took off in the U.S. with its mock newscast "Weekend Update," which continues today as the show's longest-running recurring sketch. Then came HBO's Not Necessarily the News (1983-1990). Fast-forward to 1999, when The Daily Show with Jon Stewart first entered America's living rooms.

The Daily Show took a trailblazing comedic direction, focusing on politics, current events and the hypocrisy underlying it all. The show's editorial voice has become deeply influential to our society, confirmed in a phenomenon called "The Daily Show Effect," according to American Politics Research. Look at the books written about the topic, too! (See: News Parody and Political Satire Across the Globe)

 

In 2002, CNN International began airing The Daily Show: Global Edition to overseas audiences, spawning syndication and fan bases in dozens of other countries. There's one official franchise in the Netherlands, The Daily Show (Nederlandse Editie). As a result, broadcasters all over the world have created their own localized spin-offs of The Daily Show, embracing the "infotainment" format and stylings of Jon Stewart.

Here's a clip of Jon Stewart appearing on the The Daily Show: Netherlands Edition, hosted by Jan Jaap van der Wal.

Up next, we will get to know the TV shows outside the U.S. similar to The Daily Show and The Colbert Report:

  • Caiga Quien Caiga
  • Custe o Que Custar
  • Le Iene
  • Striscia la notizia
  • Heute-Show
  • Al-Bernameg
  • Parazit
  • This Hour Has 22 Minutes
  • Rick Mercer Report
  • Week Thus Far
  • Have I Got News For You
  • Eretz Nehederet
  • If I Were Prime Minister
  • Russell Howard's Good News
  • 10 O'Clock Live
  • Good News Week

Stay tuned!

See related posts:

 

What is SnapStream? There's an unlimited amount of video content out there: 24/7 news channels, breaking news events, sports, talk shows, awards galas, entertainment shows, and so much more.

SnapStream makes a real-time news and media search engine that makes it fast and easy to find the video moments that support our customers telling great stories.

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