NEW: ‘Daily Show’ Future Uncertain As Paramount Merger Looms

“The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart weighed in on the possibility that CBS parent company Paramount, which is set to merge with the parent company of Comedy Central, which airs his program, after “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert was axed.

During an episode of Stewart’s “The Weekly Show” podcast, the longtime host was asked whether he had fears that Comedy Central parent company Skydance Media would “get rid of The Daily Show” after merging with Paramount. Stewart responded by seemingly taking a shot at the relevance of his own network, where he for years slotted in just ahead of Colbert’s hour on a nightly basis.

“That’s a good question,” Stewart answered. “Unfortunately, we haven’t heard anything from them. They haven’t called me and said, ‘Don’t get too comfortable in that office, Stewart.’ But, let me tell you something, I’ve been kicked out of s***ier establishments than that. We’ll land on our feet.”

“I honestly don’t know,” he added. “I think… I’d like to believe that — without The Daily Show, I don’t know. Comedy Central’s kind of like muzak at this point. I think we’re the only sort of, like, life that exists on a current basis, other than like South Park.”

Earlier this week, CBS confirmed that Colbert’s show will be ending in May, a little over a decade after he took over for David Letterman in 2015. Not only will Colbert be out, the show will be axed entirely after a decades-long run due to lackluster viewership and financial strain.

“Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending the Late Show in May… it’s the end of the Late Show on CBS. I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away,” Colbert said during Monday’s monologue.

The network, which has aired “The Late Show” with Colbert as its host since 2015, said it is ending the franchise after a “historic run.”

“We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire ‘THE LATE SHOW’ franchise at that time,” CBS executives said in a joint statement. “We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television.

“This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night,” they added. “It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”

Colbert’s average of 2.4 million viewers represents a nearly 50 percent decline from Letterman’s figures for the 2004-2005 season, when he averaged 4.1 million total viewers per episode, according to Nielsen data. For comparison, Letterman’s debut episode in 1993 drew 23 million viewers.

According to a report from Puck News, Colbert’s show has been operating at a $40 million loss for the past year.