Rejoice, John Oliver fans: HBO is making full seasons of ‘Last Week Tonight’ free on YouTube

John Oliver appreciates that his fans can watch his late-night show on YouTube, and Last Week Tonight fans are about to get even more access to Oliver’s monologues. HBO has announced that it will make full seasons of Last Week Tonight available on YouTube, beginning with the show’s initial 24-episode run.

Last Week Tonight already has a significant presence on YouTube thanks to its official channel, which reaches nearly ten million subscribers. In the past, Oliver’s comedic news program has ranked among YouTube’s most watched videos. The most-watched clip on the Last Week Tonight channel is Oliver’s 20-minute takedown of televangelists, which has earned more than 41 million YouTube views to date.

Thanks to HBO, Last Week Tonight‘s YouTube viewership is about to go even higher. Previously, the premium cable network required viewers to subscribe to see the non-monologue portions of Oliver’s show. On April 28, a raft of 24 new uploads brought the entire first season of Last Week Tonight to YouTube. I’m not sure what surprised me more: How young Oliver looks in those early episodes or how much relevance his critiques have ten years later.

According to a post on the official Last Week Tonight X account, HBO will follow up the first season of the show with additional YouTube uploads. “This Sunday we’ll be dropping all of season 1 for free on YouTube!” reads the post. “Seasons 2-8 to come, whenever we don’t have a new episode. Trust us, some of this is still completely relevant. Some.”

Since the advent of the streaming era, several companies have made full-length TV episodes available for free on YouTube. That strategy requires balance; when used in moderation, it can drive traffic to subscription-based services. But when TV or streaming content becomes too easy to watch for free, distributors are sometimes compelled to put more content behind paywalls.

Last Week Tonight is a perfect case study here. Its availability on YouTube was a big reason why it became a hit in the first place, but the popularity of those free uploads may be limiting the show’s audience on its streaming home. Earlier this year, HBO announced that it would delay YouTube uploads for Last Week Tonight to encourage more traffic on Max. The decision proved so unpopular that even the host of Last Week Tonight expressed his disapproval. In a tweet, Oliver urged his corporate overlords to rethink their policy. “I hope they change their mind,” he wrote.

By bringing full episodes of Last Week Tonight onto YouTube, HBO is listening to its wisecracking late-night star — sort of. Fans will still have to wait to see current Last Week Tonight content for free, but HBO is testing YouTube’s creative and promotional potential, just as Oliver has for many years.