Longtime Daily Show correspondent John Oliver is leaving Comedy Central for the warm embrace of HBO, where he will host a once-weekly topical satirical news show, according to Deadline.

Earlier this year, when regular host of The Daily Show Jon Stewart took a break from his hosting duties to shoot his directorial debut feature film in the Middle East, Oliver took over for Stewart, 50, in his absence, and received rave reviews.

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Speculation then arose that perhaps Oliver would take over for Stewart when he retired. However, Oliver instead caught HBO's interest, and the rest is history.

Oliver's last expected appearance on The Daily Show will be on December 19th. His HBO show will begin to air in 2014 on Sunday nights, thereby not competing with The Daily Show for viewers.

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Oliver, 36, said in a statement, "I’m incredibly excited to be joining HBO, especially as I presume this means I get free HBO now. I want to thank Comedy Central, and everyone at The Daily Show for the best seven-and-a-half years of my life. But most of all, I'd like to thank Jon Stewart. He taught me everything I know. In fact, if I fail in the future, it's entirely his fault."

Longtime fans of The Daily Show are likely to miss Oliver's British wit, as he's served on the show as a regular correspondent since 2006.



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