​When Trevor Noah takes over Jon Stewart’s seat at The Daily Show desk on Sept. 28, the 31-year-old has a very important checklist handed down from Viacom’s leaders, and that list is topped with bringing the show (and thereby the channel) into 2015.

Primarily, he is meant to do that with a more digital focus, attracting millennial males to an even greater extent than Comedy Central already does.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Viacom is facing steadily decreasing ratings as it claims some of the most popular faces in comedy. Comedy Central earned 26 Emmy nominations this summer, but since much of its target audience is consuming content online, that is rarely translating to ratings success.

One way Noah plans on updating the show is in changing the sources of his mockery. He noted at Comedy Central’s TCA presentation that he plans on including BuzzFeed and Gawker in the same camp as Fox News and CNN.

“The way people are absorbing their news in sound bites and headlines and little click links has changed everything,” he said. “The biggest challenge is, how do we bring all of that together?”

Viacom executives are also hoping that the South African comedian will have an international perspective and appeal that will help Comedy Central’s audience grow, both online and on air.

Read more at The Hollywood Reporter.

Brief Take: Comedy Central still has the same problem with several of its half-hour shows. What does a network do when half of its audience is watching its series in YouTube clips the day after, and may never even see the show in its appointed time slot? Hopefully Trevor Noah can create a happy medium for Viacom’s ratings and digital goals.

[Image courtesy of Comedy Central]

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