Comedy Central
MTV Entertainment Group | |
Sister channels | List
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History | |
Launched | April 1, 1991 |
Replaced | Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV , Vidgo TV |
Comedy Central is an American adult-oriented
Since the early 2000s, Comedy Central has expanded globally with localized channels in Europe (including
History
1989–1991: Pre-launch as The Comedy Channel
On November 15, 1989,
The Comedy Channel's programs were broadcast from the HBO Downtown Studios at 120 East 23rd Street in Manhattan. The format prior to the merger with Ha! included several original and unconventional programs such as Onion World with
The standard format for The Comedy Channel's shows usually involved the various hosts introducing clips culled from the acts of stand-up comedians as well as classic comedies of the 1970s and 1980s, such as
While The Comedy Channel broadcast mostly low-budget original programming,[6] Ha!'s schedule featured sitcom and sketch comedy reruns (many of which had been previously licensed for sister network Nick at Nite) as well as complete 90-minute reruns of Saturday Night Live from the sixth through 16th seasons.
After two years of limited distribution, the two channels merged into one, relaunching on
Around this time, the network introduced their now-iconic logo, which is a globe showing the
Comedy Partners was originally a partnership of Home Box Office, Inc., the subsidiary of Time Warner that owned The Comedy Channel and HBO's half and Viacom Hearty Ha! Ha! LLC, the subsidiary that owned Ha! and Viacom's half of the network during its first years on air.[8] Viacom bought out AOL Time Warner's half in April 2003 for $1.23 billion.[9] Despite HBO's exit from the venture, the Viacom Media Networks division in charge of Comedy Central is still called Comedy Partners, currently being a partnership of Paramount Global Content Distribution, the operating subsidiary of Paramount of which Paramount Media Networks is a division and Viacom Hearty Ha! Ha! LLC, the subsidiary that owned Ha! and Viacom's original half of the network.[10]
1991–2000
From the late 1980s through the mid-1990s, much of the
The channel made a breakthrough when South Park premiered in 1997. Being one of the first major basic cable shows to carry the TV-MA rating for mature audiences, the show was considered too controversial to be picked up by any mainstream network;[12] the Fox Broadcasting Company (known for The Simpsons) for example refused to pick up the series due to the over-the-top offensive content at the time. As word of mouth spread, the number of people who requested that Comedy Central should be added to their cable providers increased, and the channel became available in over 50% of American homes by 1998.
2000–2010
On October 30, 2000, Comedy Central introduced a modernized version of its globe logo, by straightening and modernizing the buildings as well as removing the transmitter and marquee. The management of the network said that the transmitter of the 1991 logo was said to "communicate the 1950s broadcast era". In 2002, Comedy Central Records was formed as a means of releasing albums by comedians that have appeared on the network.[13]
By 2003,
The success of South Park, despite its mature content, encouraged the network to continue to push the limits on adult language. Every late Friday (early Saturday morning) and Saturday night (early Sunday morning) at 1 am. ET, a movie, comedy special, or animated program is shown unedited for language as part of a block called the Secret Stash. It premiered on July 4, 2003, with the unedited cable television debut of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Though no language is censored on the Secret Stash, most nudity in the programs is still edited out, except for limited nudity allowed in animated programs such as Drawn Together, and rear nudity.
In late 2004, it was reported that the four highest-rated shows on Comedy Central were, in descending order,
On April 5, 2006, in a controversial two-part episode arc titled "Cartoon Wars Part I" and "Cartoon Wars Part II", South Park touched the issue of the recent protest over the Danish cartoon drawings depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammad. The image of Muhammad did not appear in the episode. The episode also mocked fellow cartoon Family Guy. On April 13, 2006, Comedy Central issued a statement[20] which appears to confirm that the network prohibited the show's creators from airing an image of Muhammad. The statement reads, "In light of recent world events, we feel we made the right decision." An anonymous source close to the show indicated[citation needed] that South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were informed of the policy several weeks earlier and wrote this story arc in protest. This was a change of policy for Comedy Central, having allowed South Park to portray an image of Muhammad in an earlier episode, "Super Best Friends". Oddly enough, an image of Muhammad was still briefly visible in the opening credits of the "Cartoon Wars" episodes (the image had been there as a call-back to "Super Best Friends").
On January 15, 2007, MTV Networks International launched Comedy Central in Germany which is available for free throughout Europe. The channel airs 33 shows either dubbed in German or subtitled while also airing locally produced shows.
On June 27, 2007,
In December 2007, Comedy Central picked up a show hosted by Lewis Black called Lewis Black's Root of All Evil,[25] which debuted in March 2008. On January 9, 2008, it was announced the Comedy Central and MTV would allow the streaming its programs online for free starting in February that year.[26] On January 24, Scott Landsman became the Vice President of Original Programming and Development at the network.[27]
On March 27, 2008, the Swedish Radio and TV Authority approved an application from Comedy Central regarding being allowed to air television programs in Sweden. The grant allowed Comedy Central to broadcast on the terrestrial television network between January 1, 2009, and March 31, 2014, after which a new request had to be submitted to continue broadcasting.[28] Comedy Central's U.S. flagship network picked up a remake of The Gong Show hosted by Dave Attell,[29] star of his former self-titled Comedy Central series Insomniac, which debuted in July 2008. Another new show called Reality Bites Back[30] premiered after The Gong Show with Dave Attell.
In June 2008, Comedy Central picked up the sketch comedy show
In 2009, Comedy Central introduced an Internet viral video reaction show hosted by comedian Daniel Tosh called Tosh.0. During its second year in the summer of 2010, it was the most viewed show, overtaking The Daily Show and The Colbert Report for male audiences aged 18–49. Many of the segments in Tosh.0's past seasons have received more views on Comedy Central's YouTube channel than any other show.
2011–2018
On December 9, 2010, Comedy Central introduced a new logo for the network that launched on January 1, 2011, which left behind the previous theme of a world-sized "tower" broadcasting the network/skyscrapers, in favor of an image of two "C"'s, with one of them and the word "Central" turned upside-down within the new logomark. The new logo was designed to represent the network's unique brand of comedy (with some drawing comparisons to the copyright symbol as inspiration for its design and use), and to provide the network with a logo that could be easily used across different platforms, such as social media. However, the "bars" version of the logo used from 2000 to 2011 was intended to be Comedy Central's new logo as part of a planned rebranding in 2010, and the network used it short-lived until the network started a logo nicknamed the "Comedymark".[38][39] The logo's resemblance to the one used by the Federal Communications Commission was also pointed out.[40][41] It went on to win several industry awards.[42]
The Polish version of the channel was the first international Comedy Central channel to switch to the new logo on February 20, 2011; followed by the Hungarian version on April 1, 2011. Versions of the channel in
In 2012, Atom.com (formerly AtomFilms) was absorbed into Comedy Central.
On April 1, 2012, Comedy Central launched a Russian-language version of Comedy Central branded as Paramount Comedy in Russia.[45] On March 1, 2023, «Paramount Comedy» was renamed to «Comedy Central» and broadcasts in CIS countries (except Russia and Belarus).[46] [47]
On October 21, 2013, the network premiered a nightly comedy-
On May 14, 2014, Comedy Central expanded to Spain, replacing Paramount Comedy.[49]
In 2014, it was announced that Stephen Colbert would leave Comedy Central to host
On January 5, 2017, the Finnish Government granted television programming licenses in the UHF band. The grant applied by Nickelodeon International Ltd allows Comedy Central to broadcast from May 17, 2017, to January 10, 2027.[54]
On November 16, 2017, Comedy Central launched a Ukrainian-language version of Comedy Central branded as Paramount Comedy in Ukraine. Ukrainian-language version of the channel is operated under the license purchased.[55]
2018–present
In July 2018, Comedy Central refreshed its branding, maintaining the existing double-C logomark, but introducing a new in-house typeface, and changing the network's corporate color to amber (while also using other colors to denote flagship programs).[56]
On February 11, 2019, Jimmy Kimmel announced on his talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! that former show Crank Yankers will be revived on Comedy Central for a fifth 20-episode season.[57] The new season will include pranks on social media and other platforms. Kimmel's brother Jonathan Kimmel will serve as showrunner and executive producer.
On May 1, 2019, the Viacom-owned Pluto TV launched two Comedy Central networks titled Comedy Central Pluto and Comedy Central Stand Up. The former airs classic Comedy Central original series such as Reno 911!, Crank Yankers and more, while the latter airs the network's stand up specials.[58] Later on December 15, 2020, the Comedy Central Stand Up channel was removed and a new Comedy Central Animation channel was added.[59]
On December 4, 2019, Viacom re-merged with CBS Corporation to form ViacomCBS.[60]
In 2020, Comedy Central began shifting its programming towards adult animation, with series pickups of
High definition channels and service
The 1080i high definition simulcast feed of Comedy Central launched in 2009[66] and is available on all major cable and satellite providers. The standard definition Comedy Central downscales the HD feed and broadcasts in 16:9 letterboxed to fit the 4:3 ratio.
Programming
Criticism
Comedy Central has been a target of criticism from some
On November 5, 2007, an open letter[71] was written by VideoSift to protest the blocking of Comedy Central's embedded video content for non-American viewers.
On April 21, 2010, Comedy Central
International channels
Polsat Comedy Central Extra is a Polish secondary channel of Comedy Central Poland is owned between Paramount Networks EMEAA and Polsat it was launched in 2010. As programing block on VH1 Poland and in 2011. As channel in 2012 become a full hour TV channel 12 June 2012, along with Comedy Central Poland switched to 16:9 picture format. On 22 February 2018, from 8pm CET started airing Comedy Central Extra block. In January 2020 it was announced that the name would change to Polsat Comedy Central Extra on 3 March 2020.
Comedy Central Extra is a British and Irish comedy-based television channel, it was second brand of Comedy Central UK and Ireland. It was launched on 2003 as Paramount Comedy 2 in 2009 as Comedy Central Extra. In 2011, channel launched on Netherlands. In 2018, Comedy Central Extra Netherlands started airing Comedy Central Family programs due to close this channel on Netherlands on 31 May 2018. In 2019, channel rebranded logo to yellow. On 31 December 2022, Comedy Central Extra has ceased broadcasting on Netherlands but the following programs moved to
Notes
- ^ The logo's symbol has been in use since January 1, 2011.
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External links
- Official website
- Comedy Central (comcentral.com) at the Wayback Machine (archive index)