The Reuters article, like a handful of others over the past few months, is only a couple hundred words or so. These articles only scratch the surface. Read between the lines and it’s– please pardon the overused word– a revolution.

Now it’s HBO who is announcing an internet intitiative, partnering with AOL to bring more comedy to more eyeballs.

The cable television network said the new site, called “This Just In,” will feature original programming and not full-length shows from the cable network.

Its first Internet foray outside of marketing-centric HBO.com comes amid ongoing discussions with cable operators and affiliates over how to reach new viewers on the Internet, an HBO spokesman said.

Emphasis ours. We (us, you comedians who are readers, you comedy fans who are readers, you industry types who are readers) have a ringside seat for one of the most fascinating transitions the entertainment world has ever experienced.

Consider that when Bob Hope started out as an entertainer, KDKA hadn’t yet applied for a license. He went from street performance to vaudeville, Broadway, radio, film, television, cable, satellite and there was video and/or audio of Hope available on audio cassette, on VHS tape, on DVD and on the WWW before his death, at age 100, in 2003. The man chased the eyeballs (and ears) wherever they happened to reside. He probably figured there were no more innovations with regard to the delivery of the image, the likeness, the comedy of Bob Hope.

Along comes broadband.

And now HBO and several other entities are formulating their strategies for how to reach new viewers on the Internet, and comedy is an integral part of many of these intitiatives.

Let’s allow for a moment that TV killed live comedy (we’re on record as saying that this is hogwash, as many or you readers know), but let’s say it did. Does that mean that this current wave of broadcasters, cable outlets and others seeking to deliver comedy content via the WWW is a nightmarish reenactment of the late 80s/early 90s– only this time, it’s a hundred, a thousand, times worse? And that Broadband will prematurely put an end to the resurgence that comedy is currently enjoying? If, at the heart of the TV Killed Comedy argument was a combination of “familiarity breeds contempt” and “why pay for it when I can get it for free,” isn’t this recent trend sure to kill comedy deader than it ever was?

No.

This is a new world. The old rules do not apply. Consumers are no longer slaves to the clock. Appointment TV (and the resentment it breeds) is a thing of the past. There is no such thing as a “crowded schedule” when it comes to television. There is no schedule. The consumer is the programmer. The websites (and there will be dozens, hundreds, of them) are miniature studios. We, the artists, will be producers. Often, we will deal directly with the studio/website. There will be little or no friction between the producer/artist and the consumer. It’s a hundred times more disruptive than the situation confronted by performers like Hope when radio came along, when film distribution matured, when television exploded, when cable, satellite and video changed the rules even further.

The WWW is an awesome entity. We’re lucky to be alive. To use the old lingo, stay tuned.

P.S.: File this under We Don’t Get No Respect– The photograph that accompanies the Reuters story about HBO launching a comedy channel with AOL? James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano.