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Comedy Central

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Comedy Central
TypeCable network (comedy)
Country
United States
AvailabilityNational
OwnerMTV Networks (Viacom)
Key people
Tom Freston - President, MTV Networks
Launch date
April 1, 1991
Former names
The Comedy Channel, HA!
Official website
http://www.comedycentral.com

Comedy Central is a cable television channel in the United States. As its name implies, the channel carries predominantly comedy programming, both original and syndicated.

History

Comedy Central began on April Fool's Day 1991, after Home Box Office, owned by Time Warner, merged its Comedy Channel with MTV Networks' HA! comedy channel, owned by Viacom. Viacom bought Time Warner's half in April 2003 for $1.225 billion. When the merged channel first aired, it was known as Comedy TV or CTV for short, but copyright issues with the Canadian network CTV forced the name change to Comedy Central.

With the exception of cult favorite Mystery Science Theater 3000, the channel had a relatively small viewership until South Park premiered on the then-fledgling channel in 1997. As word of mouth spread, the number of people who requested that Comedy Central be added to their cable systems increased, and the channel became available in over 50% of American homes by 1998.

File:Comedychannel.gif
Comedy Central's old logo

Much of Comedy Central's programming consists of 1980s through mid-1990s comedy movies and stand up comedians. Once a week, they show an unedited movie or comedy special. They call this the "Secret Stash." They advertise that it comes on Saturdays at 1 AM, though technically it airs Sunday at 1 AM, not Saturday. Comedy Central also hosts original programming, including Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, a satirical half-hour "fake news" show poking fun at modern-day media and politics.

In late 2004, it was reported that the top four rated shows on Comedy Central, in order, were South Park, Chappelle's Show, The Daily Show, and Reno 911!. Shortly thereafter, Dave Chappelle infamously backed out of the anticipated third season of Chappelle's Show; meanwhile, The Daily Show continued to climb in ratings. In October 2005, on the occasion of a new three-year contract for South Park and the launch of The Colbert Report, it was reported that South Park and The Daily Show were the two highest rated shows on Comedy Central. Comedy Central chief Doug Herzog was reported as saying that he hoped to continue to air new seasons of South Park forever; and that The Colbert Report fulfilled a long-held plan to extend the Daily Show brand.

Notable original programming

Current

Past

Notable non-original programming

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