​“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” which launched in April on HBO, could have been merely a pay-cable take on “The Daily Show” and “Colbert Report” that came before it - both successful comedy-as-news formats that had done well in the critical and online space as well.

But John Oliver, former “Daily Show” correspondent and working standup comedian, has changed a few things in the way he delivers the news. Instead of breaking down several top stories per episode, Oliver focuses his weekly show on fewer, more thoroughly investigated topics that can last up to 20 minutes. These longer segments, including diatribes about the Hobby Lobby ruling, Dr. Oz’s endorsing faulty supplements or FIFA’s shady history, are not only succinctly explained and incredibly organized, but they’re also ripe for online shares.

Oliver’s explanation of the FCC’s Net Neutrality debate, which was, like many of these longer segments, posted on his show’s YouTube page, went viral after he called for Internet commenters to speak their minds on the FCC’s comment site. This was on a Sunday night - by that Monday, the FCC’s commenting site crashed due to “heavy traffic,” possibly caused in part by Oliver’s efforts.


And, as Variety points out, segments like the one above are sometimes longer than the investigative pieces done on shows like “60 Minutes,” news franchises specifically known for more in-depth reporting. Oliver is no CNN reporter, either, but his longer segments manage to speak to his HBO audience and get his message across, both on-air and online.

Without ad breaks and a set guest segment like “The Daily Show,” Oliver’s able to use HBO to his advantage, creating a new format to fit his voice better. In these longer pieces, he explains some current issues in a logical way that some news brands simply do not do, and, breaking many assumptions for his audience, creates 20-minute viral videos because of it.

Read more at Variety.

Brief Take: In an already-crowded space of comedy-as-news, John Oliver’s HBO brand has found a way to stand out from its competition by using more informative long-form segments, some of which have brought the show additional viral and socially shared attention.

[Image courtesy of HBO]

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