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The announcement came as a surprise Monday with the network cutting loose the politically conscious show a few months before the presidential election.

In a statement, Comedy Central credited Wilmore and his staff with generating conversations "by addressing social issues of great importance to the country, always challenging people's attitudes, perceptions and bias."


Comedy Central president Kent Alterman told 

 that despite high hopes, the show never attracted the audience the network expected.


"We've been monitoring it closely as for a year and a half now and we haven't seen the signs we need in ratings or in consumption on digital platforms." Alterman told the publication. "We've been been hoping it would grow."


The showed premiered in January 2015 at 11:30 p.m. after Jon Stewart's wildly successful 

. The coolly analytical Wilmore entered the network's late-night lineup replacing Stephen Colbert, whose jingoistic blowhard character made 

 a favorite and eventually landed him David Letterman's old gig on CBS' 

.
But Wilmore had trouble repeating Colbert's success, 

In his own statement, Wilmore thanked the network, Stewart and viewers for the opportunity.

"I'm also saddened and surprised we won't be covering this crazy election or 'The Unblackening' as we've coined it," the statement reads. "I guess I hadn't counted on 'The Unblackening' happening to my time slot as well."

, Wilmore had a long history in television as a writer for 

.
In 2006, Wilmore stepped in front of the camera playing the "Senior Black Correspondent" on Stewart's 

.
Most recently, Wilmore hosted this year's 

White House Correspondents Association dinner

.
Until Comedy Central schedules a permanent replacement, it will move its 

Arts and Culture

Business and Economic News

Jason Slotkin

Author

Cancellation of the satirical news show comes a year and a half into its run. It had replaced The Colbert Report. Comedy Central's president said it wasn't "resonating" with audiences.

Larry Wilmore's 'Nightly Show' will air for the last time on Thursday

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