Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert Sign Through 2012 At Comedy Central

Things you will still be able to count on, for at least a few more years anyway: death, taxes, and The Daily Show covering a presidential election.

After a fairly tumultuous first half of 2010 in the late night world, one short week after Conan O’Brien announced he will be taking the helm of a cable late night show, Comedy Central’s parent MTV Networks made a move to secure its highest profile talent for another few years. Both Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will continue hosting their current shows through 2012.

In addressing the elephant in the room (“Why didn’t Comedy Central land the Golden Prize in O’Brien?”),  MTV Entertainment’s president told Bill Carter of the New York Times:

“We’re big admirers of Conan here,” [Doug Herzog] said. And the network did have some preliminary talks with Mr. O’Brien’s representatives when he settled his NBC contract – but not about a late-night slot, Mr. Herzog said. “We’ve got Jon and Stephen. Our late-night is filled already.”

Read Dave Levy’s full analysis at Mediaite.