HBO Delays ‘Last Week Tonight’ Main Story Release On YouTube; John Oliver Hopes Network Reconsiders
On Mondays while HBO’s Last Week Tonight is in season, host/executive producer John Oliver takes to X to post the main story segment from the previous night’s episode as it becomes available on YouTube.
This Monday, following Last Week Tonight‘s Season 11 premiere last night, Oliver went on X to inform his fans of a policy change that marks the end of a longstanding online tradition.
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“HBO has decided they’re going to wait until Thursday to post them to YouTube from now on,” he wrote. “I hope they change their mind, but until then, you can see our piece about the Supreme Court on HBO, on MAX, and on YouTube in a few days.”
An HBO spokesperson confirmed the pivot to Deadline as a way to boost viewership for the show on Max.
“When Last Week Tonight with John Oliver premiered on HBO, the convenience of watching on Max did not exist so YouTube allowed flexible viewing for the main story as well as promotional exposure,” the spokersperson said in a statement. “We are now delaying that availability and hope those fans choose to watch the entire show on Max.”
As Oliver indicated in his X post, the main story in the Season 11 premiere last night was about the Supreme Court. It culminated in an offer by the talk show host of $1 million a year and a $2.4 million motorcoach to Clarence Thomas for him to step down as SCOTUS justice.
UPDATE THURSDAY: The Supreme Court piece went up on YouTube Thursday morning and was tweeted by Oliver.
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