- Mark Dolliver

NEW YORK Who needs news when there's "news"? Twenty-four percent of respondents to a Rasmussen Reports poll agreed that TV shows like The Colbert Report and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (pictured) are "taking the place of traditional news outlets." Fewer than half (45 percent) disagreed, while the rest were unsure.

And people don't necessarily think this is a bad thing. Thirty-nine percent of respondents to the poll (conducted last weekend) believe such programs make Americans "more informed" about current events, outnumbering the 21 percent who think the shows make people "less informed. (Twelve percent said the shows have "no impact" either way, and the rest were unsure.) Seven percent said these shows are "very influential" in shaping their own political opinions, with another 14 percent saying the programs are "somewhat influential" in this way.

It's a sign of how significant these shows have become in the politico-cultural scene that the polling firm took the trouble to gather approval/disapproval ratings for the two stars.

Thirty-six percent of respondents said they have a favorable opinion of Stewart, topping by one percentage point that number who view Colbert favorably. Twenty-two percent voiced an unfavorable opinion of both of them, leaving large numbers who had no opinion of either celeb.

RELATED: "Adweek 30, The Influentials: Colbert and Stewart."