Jon Stewart Just Signed A New, Exclusive Four-Year Agreement With HBO

HBO continues to build its arsenal of game-changing media producers looking to find a new, less-restrictive network home.

In an HBO press release, Jon Stewart announced today he'd be following in the footsteps of John Oliver, a former correspondent for "The Daily Show," by signing an exclusive four-year deal with HBO to create “short-form digital content” for HBO GO, HBO NOW and annoyingly vague “other platforms.”

This deal also means HBO called legally binding dibs to produce anything Stewart thinks up over the next few years, including TV, films and documentaries.

In the press release, Stewart shed some light on the content he'd be providing. He said,

I'm so excited to be working with Richard [Plepler], Michael [Lombardo] and the entire HBO family. Appearing on television 22 minutes a night clearly broke me. I'm pretty sure I can produce a few minutes of content every now and again.

OK, so we don't get full episodes of Stewart, but we do get healthy, fairly frequent doses of the former Comedy Central staple. Fair enough.

The news of Stewart's addition to HBO comes weeks after disgruntled former ESPN editor and Grantland creator Bill Simmons announced he signed a deal with the network.

When you add these two names to a network that over the past year alone produced documentaries like “The Jinx” and “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief” and has the rights over "VICE" and John Oliver, it becomes clear HBO is the standard when it comes to networks producing original and outstandingly provocative content.

Your move, Hulu Plus.

Citations: Jon Stewart Is Coming to HBO (Vulture), JON STEWART AND HBO CONCLUDE EXCLUSIVE FOUR-YEAR PRODUCTION PACT (Medium)