Season 5 of Last Week Tonight With John Oliver premieres tonight on HBO, from 11:02 – 11:33 p.m. ET/PT, though the designated time slot is 11 – 11:30 p.m. ET/PT. According to WLTX19, the new season will feature a total of 30 episodes and the show was recently renewed through a seventh season in 2020. As for how Oliver and the show keeps ratings up and viewers watching, he recently told the NY Times that, “When we take a position, we try to keep people on board who might disagree, so that at least they can watch our thought process. We don’t want to be another haranguing voice, which turns people off.”
For those who want to watch the show online via live stream, there are several options. If you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can watch HBO online, on your phone or on another streaming device like an Amazon Fire TV or Roku via one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services. They cost a monthly fee but all come with a free trial, so you can watch tonight’s show at no cost:
Amazon Prime: If you have Amazon Prime or want to start a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, you can watch live HBO and all of HBO’s on-demand content through Amazon Channels. The HBO channel costs $14.99 per month. It comes with a free 7-day trial, and you can watch on your computer via your browser, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Amazon Video app
DirecTV Now: HBO is a $5 per month add-on that can be added to any of DirecTV Now’s four channel packages, which range from $35 to $70 per month. It comes with a free 7-day trial, and you can watch on your computer via your browser, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the DirecTV Now app
Sling TV: HBO is a $15 per month add-on that can be added to either of Sling TV’s base packages, which costs $20 or $25 per month. It comes with a free 7-day trial, and you can watch on your computer via your browser, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Sling TV app
HBO Now: HBO’s standalone streaming service allows you to watch HBO for $14.99 per month. You can watch on your computer via your browser, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the HBO Now app
John Oliver won his second consecutive Emmy for Outstanding Variety Talk Series in September 2017, according to NBC Chicago. When it comes to what he’s learned from doing his show, Oliver tells the LA Times, “The big lessons are less about the show that you see than the machine that produces that show. How you staff up, how you keep people interested. Those are the harder tricks. It’s running the thing underneath the show that is the steepest learning-curve part of it and how each little decision can affect the product that comes out at the end of it.” His last new episodes were in November 2017.