A few weeks ago, when Jon Stewart announced he would be absconding his sixteen-year perch atop The Daily Show, a fount of digital ink gushed open. From every internet tributary, eulogies and reminiscences poured down the media mountain. Riding a gurgling wave of roundups and recaps, the #slatepitches and identity politics flowed mightily. Even as the viral storm calmed, a surge of claim chowder and hot takes hit the social shores. You might say the story was on fleek. (Except, no, you wouldn’t.)

This deluge was a fitting response to a show so shaped and challenged by its time. The Daily Show’s brilliant conceit was to take the dominant cultural trend of the past thirty years — the clash of high and low — to its furthest logical conclusion — political news meets gallows humor. The mashup known as truthiness worked perfectly.

But the show was challenged along the way.

During its long reign, a barrage of new technologies appeared, each posing a confounding new question. TiVo — does it grow audience or shrink revenue? YouTube — friend or foe? Ugh, cord-cutting millennials? Ack, Hulu strategy? Fuuuuuh, Twitter? Vine?! Snapchat?!?!?

I would argue that The Daily Show rode the disruptive waves as masterfully as one could. It adopted a sound strategy: experiment with new platforms and technology, iterate on success, and, perhaps most importantly, shrug and move on from what fails.

But it also got lucky. While certain new technologies posed a corporeal threat, other media inventions fit perfectly into the show’s DNA. Technology both imperiled and propelled the show. Much of the The Daily Show’s success can be attributed to shrewd decisions; some of it, sublime coincidence.

Here is a brief history of the obstacles and serendipities provided by technology: