Jon Stewart agrees four-year HBO digital gig

The comic will examine current affairs 'through his unique prism'

The retirement did not last long.

Three months after ending his 16-year stint heading the The Daily Show, comedian Jon Stewart has signed a deal with a cable television channel to produce current affairs content.

HBO said in a statement released on Tuesday, that the four-year agreement will see Stewart producing content that will be shown on its digital platforms HBO NOW and HBO GO. HBO will also get the first look at other, unspecified, film and TV ventures from the comedian.

Reuters said that in the first project under the deal “Stewart will view current events through his unique prism” and work with a graphics company to produced timely short-form digital content that will be refreshed multiple times a day.

No start date for the venture was announced but HBO officials said it was expected to get under way early next year.

The announcement was the first indication of a new venture for Stewart, who quit as host of Comedy Central's satirical hit in August without giving any clear indication of what he wanted, or planned, to do next.

“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,” Stewart said, referring to his previous job.

Since leaving, the 52-year-old has kept a low profile, traveling to Los Angeles in September to accept an Emmy award and opening a farm sanctuary with his wife in New Jersey.

Although details of Stewart's venture were unclear, on Tuesday he is not the first comedian to turn to digital content after a successful career on mainstream television.

Jerry Seinfeld, co-creator of the award-winning 1990s comedy series Seinfeld, launched a popular web series in 2012 called Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, made up of short episodes, that is now in its sixth season and has been streamed about 100m times.