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'Wild card' Trevor Noah ready to revamp the Daily Show with an outsider twist
Trevor Noah plans to create an iteration of the Daily Show, which looks past political partisanship to create a “progressive” programme that skewers figures on either sides of the political divide.

Speaking at a press breakfast to launch the new Daily Show, which starts on Monday 28 September, the South African comedian said he would use his position as an outsider in the US to look at some of the more bizarre elements of the country’s political system without preconceptions.

Related: Trevor Noah's Daily Show – what to expect next week

“I’m living in America and these are the things that I’m seeing day to day, so for instance the Republican debate, which I wouldn’t necessarily have had full access to living outside of the US is now in my face and it means a lot more to me. But I bring a certain level of: ‘did you see this other thing?’. That comes from another place and it’s nice for the team that they get an outsiders’ perspective.”

The show has hired other non-Americans, including Australian comic Ronny Chieng, who joins as a correspondent, as well as Ugandan Joseph Opio and Noah’s fellow South African David Kibuuka. But Noah says the show’s focus is still going to be on the US.

“It’s about melding the two worlds but not going into a place where we say: ‘this is an international show’, it is international by the fact it is in the world,” he said.

Jon Stewart’s final year in charge at the Daily Show saw the programme win three Emmys for outstanding variety talk series, outstanding writing for a variety series and outstanding directing for a variety series.

When asked if he felt under pressure about taking over from Stewart, Noah was quick to reiterate the quality of the producers and writers on the show.

He said: “These are all Emmy winners sitting next to me. I’m the wild card. So they’re the ones who should be afraid more than anyone.”

I’m neither left nor right. We don’t have liberal/conservative in South Africa in terms of the steadfast names

“If we turn somewhere where there is no danger then we’re going down the wrong road,” he added. “People said: ‘are you getting rid of Jon or are you continuing Jon?’ I realised there’s a big middle ground. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.”

The host added that during the Republican debates he’d been impressed by Rand Paul but had been warned by executive producer Steve Bodow that he would “break his heart”. But Noah sees that opportunity to learn about politicians rather than judge them as a good thing.

“I want to be in the position where I start over fresh with some of these people and try something new where I don’t have any preconceived notions about them.”

When asked about his own political stance he said he was “progressive” but not in a political sense, adding he’s not a liberal or a conservative.

“I’m neither left nor right. We don’t have liberal/conservative in South Africa in terms of the steadfast names. Even within the big parties we have very contrasting views.”

Executive producers Steve Bodow, Jen Flanz, Tim Greenberg, Jill Katz and Adam Lowitt joined Noah, as well as the full cast of correspondents including Jessica Williams, Jordan Klepper, plus new additions Roy Wood Jr and Desi Lydic.

Klepper said the five-week switchover from Jon Stewart’s final show to Trevor Noah’s first was “surprisingly” short, with the cast given a week off before working long hours on the new show. He said: “You can’t do 200 shows a year and have a lot people who are hard to work with because you need to be cool with each other. Everyone knows how to deal with high-stress situations and this has been an intense five weeks. It’s been exciting.”

Klepper added that the new correspondents and other hires had been absorbed into the team quickly.

He said: “It’s been great. They were immediately jumping into meetings, they’re all pros because the Daily Show asks that you be ready from day one.”

Comedy Central’s president, Michele Ganeless, spoke about the evolution of the show, mentioning the addition of the former Onion political editor Baratunde Thurston, who will oversee the show’s online life, something which has become more important for late-night TV shows, which have seen ratings drop.

She added that Monday night’s premiere will go out across all the Viacom channels including MTV, as well as Comedy Central.

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah starts 28 September on Comedy Central
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South African comedian continues some of Jon Stewart traditions but all sides of political divide are fair game – if there’s no danger, ‘we’re going down wrong road’
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Electricity Prices in the U.S. Are Capping Their Worst Year Ever
December 30, 2016, 3:03 PM EST

Electricity prices from Boston to Dallas sank to their lowest levels ever in 2016, presenting new challenges for generators more than a decade after the industry was deregulated.

Power prices plunged this year as cheap natural gas cut fuel costs, and wind and solar alternatives came online. Consumers also used less electricity for the second straight year, despite a summer heat wave, amid an industrial slowdown and growing awareness among households and businesses of ways to boost energy efficiency, according to government estimates.

Deregulation targeted lower electricity costs by opening up competition among generators. The recent stress from sliding prices is forcing some companies to seek the protection afforded by regulation. FirstEnergy Corp. plans to become a fully regulated utility within two years and American Electric Power Co. may follow. At the same time, Exelon Corp. won subsidies to keep New York and Illinois nuclear plants running with consumers covering the costs.

“Low demand, low prices, subsidized or increased renewable generation and gas-fired generation, all of those are challenges the merchant power sector has been experiencing and will likely experience going forward,” said Paul Patterson, an analyst with Glenrock Associates LLC, in an interview Friday.

The average around-the-clock spot price at PJM’s Western hub, which includes Washington and is the most actively traded U.S. power location, tumbled 19 percent this year to $28.78 a megawatt-hour, the least in grid data going back to 2005. New York City, Boston and Dallas area power prices are similarly trading at record lows this year.
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assistant: Electricity prices from Boston to Dallas sank to their lowest levels ever in 2016, presenting new challenges for generators more than a decade after the industry was deregulated.