Los Angeles, Feb 21 (IANS): "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart feels it was right to quit the talk show at a time when his children are still young enough to want to hang out with him.

The 52-year-old presenter, who has son Nathan, 10, and daughter Maggie, nine, with wife Tracey, announced earlier this month that he is stepping down from the satirical programme after 16 years at the helm.

"I just needed more flexibility. I got maybe four or five more years with the kids until they really don't want anything to do with me. And I'm just not there.

"You can't (work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.) for 16 years and think you're going to be able to tell them to not smoke pot. You can't show up at 9 p.m. and go, 'Don't get high. Okay, goodnight, sweetheart'," he told hollywoodreporter.com.

Though Stewart's successor hasn't yet been named, he has a good idea of the type of person who should take over and hopes they will shake things up a little.

"What I want to see there is the next iteration of this idea. I feel like the tributaries of my brain combined with the rigidity of the format. I feel like I used every permutation of that I could possibly use.

"I would love to see the next iteration of that, like John Oliver was able to apply our process to a more considered thing, and it's exciting to watch it evolve and see it mutate and change and fill different gaps and different ideas. That's the part that I'm looking forward to seeing," he said.