Comedy Central Sending Classic Shows Across the Web
'Crank Yankers,' 'Strangers with Candy' and 'Mind of Mencia' among available titles
By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/4/2009 3:26:35 PM
Comedy Central is making some of its classic shows available to video sites across the web. Programs such as Crank Yankers, Mind of Mencia, Strangers With Candy and Drawn Together are already available on Hulu, the NBC Universal-News Corp. joint venture, with other partner sites expected to be added shortly.
The move will deliver revenue on shows that haven’t been on the air, in some cases for many years, and aren’t available elsewhere online.
Comedy already syndicates its late night comedy news shows, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report, to a number of sites, including Hulu. In addition, the network streams some of its current hits online, including its longest running series South Park.
Affiliate agreements can complicate the online syndication of many current programs.
As part of its digital strategy, Comedy Central has launched a number of “deep archive” websites, featuring extensive video content from the network’s large library of comedy material. The most recent of those sites is Jokes.com, which the network is loading up with content from its stand-up comedy library.
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