Potentially BIG NEWS from MTV Networks

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on December 7th, 2004

Linda Moss, writing in Reed Business’ multichannel.com (subscription required), writes that:

MTV Networks is exploring spinoffs from Comedy Central, including launching a stand-up network, and it is looking for new opportunities to better target Hispanics and Baby Boomers, officials said Monday.

We’ll believe it when we see it, of course, but if they follow through on this, it will be significant for the business of standup– live standup, recorded standup, standup concert movies, etc. It will also be a return to the roots of Comedy Central which, you may recall, was a hybrid of two channels– Viacom’s Ha! Television and HBO’s Comedy Channel– both of which had a heavy emphasis, in the early days, on standup comedy. It is an indication that standup comedy has climbed back to the levels it reached at its peak back in 1991 or so, and may have, in some respects even surpassed those levels. But wait, there’s more:

Comedy Central, a fairly recent addition to MTVN, “doesn’t have a digital platform associated with it, and its Web site (www.comedycentral.com) “is just beginning,” according to (MTVN CEO Judy) McGrath. So MTVN is trying to build Comedy’s Internet play and looking into wireless.

“And certainly, maybe there’s a stand-up channel in the future,” she added. “I think the brand has such value, largely through Jon Stewart and Dave Chappelle and some other obvious hits, that I think there’s a lot of interest in seeing Comedy Central travel even internationally.”

Hmmm… I wonder if they’d be interested in acquiring a plucky and wildly popular website about standup comedy for a giant sack of cash?

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