Business

‘Delay in YouTube Upload of ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’ Episodes’

The release of “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” excerpts on YouTube will be provisionally postponed, according to HBO. The broadcaster hopes this move will entice audiences to subscribe to its streaming service. Oliver revealed on Monday that the clips would only be uploaded on Thursdays, despite the show airing on Sundays. “Instead of sharing our main story here on Mondays from now on, HBO has chosen to wait until Thursday to upload them to YouTube,” stated Oliver in a tweet. “Even though I hope they reconsider, in the meantime, you can watch our segment about the Supreme Court on HBO, MAX, or YouTube in a few days.”

TV show snippets are typically uploaded to YouTube after airing, including the main portion and other segments of this show, which just kicked off its 11th season on Sunday. For over a decade, putting TV show clips on YouTube after broadcast has been a standard practice, giving TV studios additional visibility and some ad income, even if it reduces the necessity for people to watch shows at their broadcast time.

An HBO representative stated that when “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” first launched, people didn’t have the convenience of watching it on Max, and YouTube provided a flexible viewing option for the main story and promotional exposure. “We’re now pushing that availability back, hoping those fans will decide to watch the full show on Max,” the representative said.

The YouTube channel for “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” has amassed over 9 million subscribers. The main segments of the show often discuss human rights, politics, and social justice issues and usually gather millions of views for each upload. “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” has been the recipient of several Emmys and was renewed through 2026 as of last December.