Misplaced Pages

#292707

166-596: Comedy Central Family is a spin-off channel of Comedy Central in European countries: Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan . The channel carries comedy programming in the form of both original, licensed, and syndicated television series, stand-up comedy specials, and feature films . As of November 2023 , Comedy Central

332-583: A short film or other interstitial content); by 1974, when the service began offering programming during the l concert specials and other music programs, daytime children's programs and various instructional series were added to the schedule. Originally headquartered from the Time-Life Building on Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue) in Midtown Manhattan , HBO initially relayed its programming via

498-402: A transponder on the then-under construction Satcom I , which was expected to be launched at the end of 1975, for a five-year term. Cable television equipment manufacturer Scientific Atlanta (through a client arrangement with Transcommunications Corp.) also intended to build earth-based satellite transmitting stations for setup outside of HBO's Manhattan headquarters and at the headend sites of

664-446: A $ 3-million direct investment. Sterling also raised Time's equity in the company to 66.4% in exchange for the added HBO stake, through the purchase of additional stock and a converted $ 6.4-million note obligation. Dolan—who reportedly had major disagreements with Time-Life management on policy issues, claims which the company denied—subsequently resigned as chief executive officer of Sterling Communications and Home Box Office, accepting

830-623: A $ 675,000 buyout of a portion of his stock while remaining on the board of directors at both companies in the interim; Dolan used portions of the sale's proceeds to repurchase Time's share of the Sterling Nassau systems and to start the Long Island Cable Community Development Co. (the forerunner to Cablevision Systems Corporation , that would be combined with the Sterling/Cablevision systems on Long Island) as

996-737: A Miniseries or Movie ( Vincent Gardenia ). In January 1996, HBO Showcase was superseded by HBO NYC Productions , a New York-based studio focusing primarily on HBO original movies as well as occasional drama series productions for the network. Time Warner consolidated HBO Pictures and HBO NYC Productions into a singular unit, HBO Films , in October 1999. Since then, the division has expanded into theatrical film productions distributed by sister company Warner Bros. Pictures and its subsidiaries, in addition to continuing to produce HBO's slate of original movies. In 1987, HBO entered into another limited partnership to create Cinema Plus L.P. The studios' most notable film

1162-516: A Teleservice system in Allentown , but, per an agreement with Teleservice president John Walson , moved the launch system to the company's Wilkes-Barre system to avoid blackouts of NBA games (specifically those featuring the Philadelphia 76ers , with which HBO was unable to materialize a television agreement to accompany its planned broadcasts of New York Knicks games) that were scheduled to air on

1328-640: 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. 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). 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

1494-547: A case filed by HBO, Community Television of Utah and several viewer groups; a modified form of the statute was ruled as a violation of the First Amendment by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals on September 10, 1985, and affirmed as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court on March 23, 1987, formally asserting that the subscriber-based model of cable television precluded programming content from being regulated in

1660-406: A collective 27-year tenure at HBO and twelve years as head of the network and its parent unit. Plepler reportedly "found he had less autonomy after the merger," as Stankey felt Plepler was "attached to a fading distribution model" by selling HBO programming with other linear channels and to channel platforms operated by streaming distributors also involved in content development; Plepler had developed

1826-519: A companion movie channel designed as a direct competitor to The Movie Channel (then owned by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment , part-owned by Warner Bros. Discovery predecessor Warner Communications) initially focused on movies chosen for their appeal to select audience demographics. Cinemax was designed to complement HBO (designated as a higher-tier "foundation [premium] service"), and avoid difficulties associated with bundling multiple "foundation" pay services. Cinemax launched over 56 cable systems in

SECTION 10

#1732855477293

1992-499: A definitive Reverse Morris Trust agreement, in which AT&T would spin out WarnerMedia into an independent company (unwinding the prior 2017 acquisition of the former Time Warner) that would concurrently acquire Discovery's assets, for $ 43 billion in cash, securities and stock plus WarnerMedia's retention of certain debt. Under the transaction, which was expected to be finalized by the second quarter of 2022, Home Box Office Inc. and all other assets of WarnerMedia would be combined with

2158-566: A discounted rate) tried to cater to cable subscribers reluctant to subscribe to HBO because of its cost and potentially objectionable content in some programs. Take 2, however, was hampered by a slow subscriber and carriage growth, forcing Time-Life to shut down the channel in January 1981. HBO executives then decided to develop a lower-cost "maxi-pay" service: on May 18, 1980, Home Box Office Inc. announced during that year's National Cable Television Association Convention its plans to launch Cinemax ,

2324-503: A fifth 20-episode season. 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

2490-465: A joint appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit , alleging the rules violated antitrust statues by inhibiting competition, exceeded FCC authority and violated cable programmers' First Amendment rights by regulating their access to content. (Network executives, National Association of Broadcasters officials and other broadcast industry representatives also were critical of

2656-475: A local station in any media market , not shown on broadcast television for at least three years or with 50 episodes or less to be available for pay syndication. However, cable programmers and the Motion Picture Association of America petitioned for the rules to be eliminated. The initial joint appeal and a separate objections by the U.S. Department of Justice and Metromedia were consolidated by

2822-532: A longstanding New York City Council ordinance—originally implemented to prevent broad-scale telephone and telegraph outages, after a severe blizzard affecting the Northeastern United States in March 1888 had caused widespread damage to above-ground utility lines in the area—requiring all electrical and telecommunication wiring to be laid underground to limit weather-related service disruptions, and because

2988-661: A major corporate revamp that resulted in Home Box Office, Inc. and all other WarnerMedia Entertainment assets being consolidated with Warner Bros. Entertainment to form WarnerMedia Studios & Networks Group. HBO/Cinemax President of Programming Casey Bloys—who has been with Home Box Office, Inc. since 2004 (as director of development at HBO Independent Productions), and was eventually elevated to programming president in May 2016—added oversight of HBO Max and WarnerMedia's basic cable networks to his purview. (The restructuring also resulted in

3154-431: A network of microwave relay towers throughout the Northeastern United States to participating cable systems carrying the channel; On February 28, 1973, Sterling Communications announced it would spin-out HBO and associated assets into Home Box Office, Inc., a new subsidiary created in accordance with the sale of 9% of Sterling's HBO equity to Time Inc. (expanding its controlling shares to around 75% of HBO's equity) and

3320-467: A partnership between Home Box Office, Inc. and Showtime Networks (parent of HBO rivals Showtime and The Movie Channel) implemented a cooperative content advisory system that was initially unveiled across HBO, Cinemax and the Showtime Networks properties that would provide specific content information for pay-cable subscribers to determine the suitability of a program for children. The development of

3486-479: A plan to drive $ 7.5 billion in annual revenue by seeking greater content investment for HBO and Cinemax (including incorporating "family-friendly original, library, and licensed children's programming" onto Cinemax's schedule), an agreement to sell its TV Everywhere service HBO Go directly to Comcast 's broadband-only customers, and to offer the HBO/Cinemax linear channel bundle for at a slightly higher price point than

SECTION 20

#1732855477293

3652-401: A profit, making them "prohibitively expensive" to operate independently. On December 18, 1989, Viacom and HBO reached an agreement to consolidate Ha! and The Comedy Channel into a single channel, CTV: The Comedy Network, which launched on April 1, 1991; its name was subsequently changed to Comedy Central on June 1 of that year, in order to limit confusion and potential trademark issues with

3818-426: A reboot of The Ren & Stimpy Show , and Daria spin-off Jodie (later changed to a television movie); the first of these titles initially premiered on Paramount+ . The network also launched a new weekday animation block initially branded as Animation Contamination, featuring reruns of South Park , Futurama and The Cleveland Show . In turn, Comedy Central has decreased its live-action slate; with

3984-400: A relatively small viewership. A notable early success was Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher , which after showing promise on Comedy Central was quickly snapped up by ABC . Additionally, The Daily Show had got its start with original host Craig Kilborn , although it would take a few more years for the show to reach high popularity (and a shift toward a focus on political humor) with

4150-849: A show hosted by Lewis Black called Lewis Black's Root of All Evil , 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. On January 24, Scott Landsman became the Vice President of Original Programming and Development at the network. 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

4316-524: A significant churn rate as subscribers who found the channel's program scheduling repetitive, because of the limited allotment of movies outside of special events, decided to cancel their service. On April 11, 1975, Levin and Time-Life unveiled plans to distribute the HBO signal via satellite under a transponder leasing agreement with RCA Americom Communications , intending to distribute its programming to cable systems and multipoint distribution services throughout

4482-413: A singular premium bundle with HBO, available at a discount if electing to subscribe to both channels. As Cinemax evolved, it expanded into non-film programming content, including music specials, some limited original and acquired programming (such as SCTV Channel and Max Headroom ) and, most notably, late-night softcore pornographic films and series ; the adult programming—initially offered as part of

4648-505: A sports production unit—operated by Time Warner Sports, in conjunction with its HBO Sports unit—which distributed and organized marquee pay-per-view boxing events with the partnership of participating promoters . The announcement came as HBO secured an agreement with promoter Dan Duva to broadcast then-heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield 's pay-cable and pay-per-view matches, which had been airing on Showtime since 1986. HBO announced it would fold HBO PPV on September 27, 2018, as part of

4814-433: A statement saying that the contract between Futurama and Comedy Central would not be renewed and that the summer of 2013 would be Futurama ' s final season on the air. However, episodes continue to run weekly on Comedy Central. In 2009, Comedy Central launched a 1080i high definition simulcast feed, which was available on all major cable and satellite providers. The standard definition Comedy Central downscales

4980-584: A style similar to music videos. In the early days, certain hours of the day when clips were shown without "host segments" were dubbed Short Attention Span Theater . In 1990, hosts under this title, Jon Stewart and Patty Rosborough , were introduced. Comedian Marc Maron also hosted the series. While The Comedy Channel broadcast mostly low-budget original programming, 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

5146-615: A target of criticism from some advocacy groups , including the Parents Television and Media Council (PTMC). The PTMC criticizes their programming not merely for mature content, but also for what they perceive as bigotry and blasphemy . The PTMC has used their criticisms against Comedy Central for their support of the Family and Consumer Choice Act of 2007 , which would require American cable television companies to allow their subscribers to choose which channels they subscribe to and impose

Comedy Central Family - Misplaced Pages Continue

5312-490: A then-emerging slate of original action series, and was removed entirely from Home Box Office's linear and on-demand platforms in 2018. The 1980s also saw HBO join three separate lawsuits concerning municipal and state-level statutes that would have legally prohibited cable systems from transmitting "indecent" content—specifically, programs that featured descriptions of or depicted "illicit" sexual acts and/or nudity—which Home Box Office Inc. and cable systems that challenged

5478-527: A unit of Warner Bros. that oversees such networks as Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Movies .) On May 8, 2019, as part of a broader reorganization that also brought HBO Enterprises and programming distribution for Turner Entertainment under the division, HBO parent WarnerMedia announced that HBO Home Entertainment would be transferred from Home Box Office, Inc./WarnerMedia Entertainment to Warner Bros. Worldwide Home Entertainment and Games . On August 7, 2020, WarnerMedia restructured several of its units in

5644-650: A wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T, which renamed the unit WarnerMedia . The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington unanimously upheld the lower court's ruling in favor of AT&T on February 26, 2019. In August 2017, as part of their co-production deal with the studio, HBO and Sky acquired minority equity interests in British television production company Bad Wolf (producer of the HBO miniseries The Night Of ). On February 28, 2019, Richard Plepler stepped down from his position as CEO of Home Box Office, Inc., after

5810-441: A worldwide theatrical distribution company for high-quality independent films . The company, along with sister studio Warner Independent Pictures , was shut down in May 2008 as part of the consolidation of New Line with its sister unit Warner Bros. Entertainment. (Picturehouse CEO Bob Berney would later resurrect the studio as an independent entity in 2013, after purchasing the trademark rights from Time Warner.) On March 1, 1994,

5976-409: Is a division and Viacom Hearty Ha! Ha! LLC , the subsidiary that owned Ha! and Viacom's original half of the network. From the late 1980s through the mid-1990s, much of the programming on Comedy Central and its predecessors consisted of comedy films , sitcom reruns, half-hour specials, and clip shows featuring comedians. Except for the cult favorite Mystery Science Theater 3000 , the channel had

6142-609: Is available to approximately 68,000,000 pay television households in the United States-down from its 2011 peak of 99,000,000 households. On November 15, 1989, Time-Life , the owners of HBO , launched The Comedy Channel as the first cable channel devoted exclusively to comedy-based programming. On April 1, 1990, Viacom (who owned MTV , VH1 , and Nickelodeon ) launched a rival channel called Ha! that featured reruns of situation comedies and some original sketch comedy . The Comedy Channel's programs were broadcast from

6308-476: 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, South Park , Chappelle's Show , The Daily Show and Reno 911! . Shortly thereafter, Dave Chappelle backed out of

6474-449: Is similar to HBO Go , a TV Everywhere streaming platform that launched on February 18, 2010, and is marketed exclusively to existing HBO linear subscribers through a television provider. Under WarnerMedia stewardship, on October 10, 2018, the company announced plans for a new OTT platform combining programming from HBO with content from various other WarnerMedia properties, including Warner Bros. Pictures , Warner Bros. Television , and

6640-500: The Commonwealth of Independent States . The international channels are overseen by Paramount International Networks . Comedy Central Extra is a British and Irish comedy-based television channel, and the sibling channel of Comedy Central in the UK and Ireland . It was originally launched in 2003 as Paramount Comedy 2, before adopting its current name in 2009. In 2011, Extra was launched in

6806-711: The Eastern and Central Time Zones on August 1, 1980. (A West Coast feed for the Pacific and Mountain Time Zones launched on September 1.) Compared to Take 2, Cinemax experienced far greater success because it relied on classic feature films from the 1930s to the 1970s, mixed with some more recent films, incidentally benefiting from the limited headend channel capacity offered by cable systems and customer demand for uncut broadcasts of theatrical movies. HBO traditionally marketed Cinemax to cable operators for sale to subscribers as part of

Comedy Central Family - Misplaced Pages Continue

6972-586: The Fairness Doctrine ). The court applied the O'Brien test (determining the FCC had failed two of its four "prongs" or standards) and found that the degree of limitation of free speech imposed by the FCC was inadequate, "grossly overboard" and thereby "arbitrary, capricious and unconstitutional" to the rights of pay-cable telecasters. The decision gave free rein for Home Box Office and other pay cable services to acquire movie and sports rights without restriction, opening

7138-534: The Turner Broadcasting System cable networks—including TBS Superstation , CNN , CNN Headline News , CNN International , TNT , Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Movies —and until the promotion's folding in 2001, World Championship Wrestling [WCW] pay-per-view events), into a singular retail unit under Home Box Office Inc. On October 15, 2014, Home Box Office, Inc. announced it would launch an over-the-top (OTT) subscription streaming service in

7304-546: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on April 10, 1985. On September 27, 1984, Home Box Office Inc. announced it would acquire a 15% equity share in Black Entertainment Television (BET) , which would be accumulated under a "contribution" arrangement in which BET will stop paying a monthly lease to the transponder that HBO had then leased to BET until the accumulated lease amount matches what

7470-581: The Upper East Side to 86th Street on the Upper West Side). Along with Dolan, TelePrompTer Corporation (which was assigned most of Upper Manhattan ) and CATV Enterprises Inc. (which was assigned part of the city's Upper West Side , extending north of the Harlem River , and The Bronx 's Riverdale neighborhood) were also awarded cable franchise permits on that date. Dolan's maiden television venture

7636-405: 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

7802-426: The major Hollywood film studios and live sporting events, all presented without interruptions by advertising and sold for a flat monthly fee to prospective subscribers. Dolan wanted to offset the service's start-up costs by having Sterling enter into carriage agreements with other cable television providers to transmit and sell the service to their customers, and draw revenue from fees charged to subscribers who added

7968-456: The primetime and overnight hours timesharing with Nickelodeon . On May 1, 2007, Comedy Central expanded to Italy, replacing Paramount Comedy. On June 27, 2007, CTVglobemedia -owned networks CTV and The Comedy Network obtained the exclusive Canadian rights to the entire Comedy Central library of past and current programs on all electronic platforms, under a multi-year agreement with Viacom , expanding on past programming agreements between

8134-543: The terrestrial television network between January 1, 2009, and March 31, 2014, after which a new request had to be submitted to continue broadcasting. Comedy Central's U.S. flagship network picked up a remake of The Gong Show hosted by Dave Attell , star of his former self-titled Comedy Central series Insomniac , which debuted in July 2008. Another new show called Reality Bites Back premiered after The Gong Show with Dave Attell . In June 2008, Comedy Central picked up

8300-577: 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 April 30, Dutch channel The Box was relaunched as the Dutch version of Comedy Central during

8466-799: The "Comedymark". The logo's resemblance to the one used by the Federal Communications Commission was also pointed out. It went on to win several industry awards. 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 Germany and the Netherlands soon followed on October 1, 2011. Comedy Central New Zealand rebranded in April 2012. Viacom 18 launched

SECTION 50

#1732855477293

8632-416: The "Friday After Dark" block , eventually expanding to all seven nights by the start of the 1990s—became a key draw for Cinemax subscribers, and the main association with the channel in pop culture . Pornographic adult programming on began to be de-emphasized from the linear Cinemax and HBO Zone channels' late-night programming in 2011, as part of the former's refocusing toward its mainstream feature films and

8798-422: The "Sterling Cable Network", before Dolan and his development team settled on naming it " H ome B ox O ffice ", originally intended as a placeholder name to meet publishing deadlines for the service's announcement memorandum and research brochures—launched on November 8, 1972, over Teleservice Cable (now Service Electric )'s Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania , system. Time Life originally planned for HBO to debut on

8964-429: The 1980s. In 1982, HBO entered into a joint venture with Columbia Pictures and CBS Theatrical Films to form Tri-Star Pictures (the hyphen in the name was removed in 1991); the new studio was created as a means for the three entities to pool resources to split the ever-growing costs of making feature films. The studio's first production, Robert Redford -led The Natural , was released in 1984. Tri-Star entered into

9130-516: The 260,000 convertible notes it held in Warner's cable television unit, Warner Cable Communications, into common stock shares totaling up to 20% in interest. Sterling would then maintain oversight of Home Box Office under Warner's purview. The Time-Warner cable deal was terminated on June 27, after both companies failed to reach a definitive agreement to sell HBO and the other Sterling subsidiaries to Warner; financial arrangements made between Sterling and

9296-545: The Canadian-based CTV Television Network . Time Warner/HBO exited the venture in April 2003, when Viacom bought out its 50% stake in Comedy Central for $ 1.23 billion. (As of 2020 , Comedy Central operates under the Media Networks unit of Paramount Global .) On December 19, 1990, Home Box Office, Inc. announced the formation of TVKO (renamed HBO PPV in 2001 and HBO Boxing Pay-Per-View in 2013),

9462-451: The Court of Appeals into Home Box Office v. Federal Communications Commission . On June 24, 1976, Home Box Office Inc. reached an in-principle agreement to purchase Telemation Program Services, a supplier of programming from individual program distributors to pay-cable systems. HBO sought Telemation to extend the channel's distribution to the 180,000 subscribers (across 40 cable systems) to which

9628-467: The District of Columbia Appeals Court's overturning of the pay-cable rules. As the HBO television service was growing nationally, Time-Life tried to develop companion pay services to sell to prospective subscribers, including existing HBO customers. Home Box Office's first attempt at a secondary service was Take 2, a movie channel marketed at a family audience that launched in April 1979. The "mini-pay" service (a smaller-scale pay television channel sold at

9794-520: The FCC gave preemptive authorization to Time-Life and Sterling Manhattan Cable to begin a pay television operation. On November 2, 1971, Time Inc.'s board of directors approved the "Green Channel" proposal, agreeing to give Dolan a $ 150,000 development grant for the project. The namesake Home Box Office (HBO) pay television network was founded by Dolan—as a joint venture between Sterling Communications and its co-partner, Time Life Broadcasting Inc. —in 1972. The service—originally to have been called

9960-531: The FCC that it planned to operate a cable-originated pay television service. Because Sterling's New York City Council franchise grant specifically required FCC approval for that purpose, Time/Sterling filed an FCC request to authorize pay television operations. Sterling indicated that a subscription television operation would also help Sterling Manhattan fund its fledgling local origination channel , which had incurred $ 1 million in start-up debt on top of annual company operating losses of $ 250,000. On September 10, 1971,

10126-550: 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 Rich Hall and Mystery Science Theater 3000 , as well as laid-back variety/talk shows hosted by comedians, including The Sweet Life with Rachel Sweet , Night After Night with Allan Havey , Sports Monster , and The Higgins Boys and Gruber ,

SECTION 60

#1732855477293

10292-423: The HBO television service's broader exit from boxing telecasts after 45 years, citing the influx of sports-based streaming services (such as DAZN and ESPN+ ) as well as other issues with promoters that hampered HBO's ability to acquire high-profile fight cards, declining ratings and loss of interest in the sport among HBO's subscribers, and the network's efforts to place more focus around its scripted programming in

10458-647: The HD feed and broadcasts in 16:9 letterboxed to fit the 4:3 ratio. The network also introduced the Internet viral video reaction show Tosh.0 , hosted by comedian Daniel Tosh . During its second year in the summer of 2010, it became the most viewed show; overtaking The Daily Show and The Colbert Report for male audiences aged 18–49. Segments from Tosh.0 ' s past seasons have received more views on Comedy Central's YouTube channel than any other show. South Park episodes " 200 " and " 201 " aired in April 2010, revisiting

10624-471: 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 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

10790-761: The Netherlands. The channel ceased broadcasting on 31 December 2022; with its programming moved to the Netherlands version of Comedy Central. The Polish version of Comedy Central Extra is owned by Paramount Networks EMEAA and Polsat . It first launched in 2010 as a programing block on VH1 Poland ; it become a full TV channel on 12 June 2012. Comedy Central Family was a Hungarian family-based television channel with air comedy and animation for family. The brand presented on 2008 on Netherlands in 2010 brand presented on Poland as block on VH1 Poland in 2011, as channel who replaced VH1 Poland but VH1 Poland continue to broadcast as night programing block. On 24 April 2012, VH1 Poland

10956-471: The New York City Council as part of their 20-year noncompete franchise agreement were alleged to have curtailed the sale. On July 19, 1973, Time Inc. reached an agreement to purchase and assume financial liabilities of Sterling Communications for $ 6.2 million (including $ 3.1‐million in redeemed public debentures). Time completed its acquisition of Sterling on September 18, 1973, formally dissolving

11122-668: The Sterling holding company and transferring Home Box Office and Sterling Manhattan Cable to its Time-Life division. The "Sterling" name was subsequently removed from the Manhattan and Long Island systems, with the Manhattan unit being renamed "Manhattan Cable Television". (Time's purchase of Sterling was the subject of a $ 97-million class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on November 28, 1973, by 15 former Sterling stockholders who accused Time and its corporate board of "conspiracy" to depress

11288-439: The U.S. version, featuring much of the same American cast as would later be seen in the U.S.) and the sitcom Absolutely Fabulous . Some later seasons of AbFab , as it was informally known, were partially financed by Comedy Central. Comedy Central also had the national rights to broadcast reruns of Seattle's Almost Live! between 1992 and 1993. The channel made a breakthrough when South Park premiered in 1997. Being one of

11454-464: The United States in 2015, which would be marketed directly to cord cutters (consumers who primarily use streaming video services rather than watch television via a cable or satellite subscription) and competing with services such as Netflix . HBO Now formally launched on April 7, 2015, initially retailing only to Apple TV and iOS devices under a three-month exclusivity agreement. The service

11620-539: The United States. Levin reached an agreement to distribute the HBO satellite feed on eight UA-Columbia Cablevision systems in California , Texas , Florida , Arizona , Arkansas and Washington State , and build earth station receivers to intercept and relay the signal to the UA-Columbia systems' headends. HBO also signed a $ 7.5-million agreement (including $ 6.5 million allocated by Levin) with RCA Americom to lease

11786-479: The Universe and Surrender , were bought back by Cannon, which then re-licensed them to Warner Home Video , as part of a $ 75 million agreement it made using loans funded by financer Alan Bond . HBO acquired Cannon's interest in the venture in April 1987, amid financial losses incurred by the film studio after an unsuccessful attempt at releasing a series of larger budget films that floundered in box office revenue;

11952-697: The WarnerMedia Entertainment- and Warner Bros. Entertainment-operated basic cable networks previously owned by the Turner Broadcasting System. The service—announced as HBO Max on July 9, 2019, and operating under WarnerMedia Direct, making it one of two HBO-branded properties (alongside HBO Home Entertainment) not to operate under the Home Box Office, Inc. umbrella—was developed under a separate infrastructure from HBO Go and HBO Now, and existing subscribers were offered to transfer subscriptions to HBO Max following its May 27, 2020 launch. Although

12118-415: The aftermath of its acquisition by WarnerMedia. In 1993, HBO purchased post-theatrical distribution rights for 48 films in development from upstart production company Savoy Pictures (co-founded by Victor A. Kaufman and Lewis J. Korman). Savoy Pictures never generated success with any of its feature film releases, and eventually folded in 1997. In 2005, HBO Films and New Line Cinema formed Picturehouse ,

12284-453: The assets of Discovery, Inc. (such as Discovery Channel , Animal Planet , Discovery+ , All3Media , Eurosport , GolfTV , Golf Digest , Golf World , Really , Motor Trend Group , Food Network , Discovery Family , HGTV , Asian Food Network , Travel Channel , TVN Group , Frisbee , K2 , Discovery New Zealand , Tele 5 , TLC and many more). AT&T shareholders would own 71% of the company's stock and Discovery shareholders would own

12450-483: The cable television industry. In May 1976, Gerald Levin was promoted to chairman and CEO of Home Box Office Inc., succeeded as company president by Manhattan Cable president Nicholas "N.J." Nicholas Jr. The ability of Home Box Office and other pay television services to offer a wide array of content was challenged on March 20, 1975, when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) updated its pay-cable regulations to modify anti-siphoning regulations that further limited

12616-744: The cancellations of Drunk History and Tosh.0 . South Side and The Other Two would move to the Warner -owned HBO Max , while a second season of Alternatino with Arturo Castro was slated to premiere on Quibi , but has since failed to materialize after the platform folded. Current original programming seen on Comedy Central includes its two longest-running series, The Daily Show and South Park ; Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens ; adult animated comedies such as Digman! and Beavis and Butt-Head (which originally premiered on MTV and later Paramount+ ); and acquired programming such as The Office and Seinfeld . Comedy Central has been

12782-409: The channel became available in over 50% of American homes by 1998. 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

12948-571: The channel in India on January 23, 2012. StarHub launched Comedy Central Asia in Singapore on November 1, 2012; the channel was added to its Basic Entertainment Upsize group. 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. On March 1, 2023, «Paramount Comedy»

13114-444: The channel onto their existing cable service (which then consisted exclusively of local and imported broadcast stations). Dolan later presented his idea to management at Time-Life, who, despite the potential benefit to the company's cable assets, were initially hesitant to consider the "Green Channel" proposal. In the early 1970s, the cable television industry was not very profitable, and was under constant scrutiny from FCC regulators and

13280-581: The client cable systems that reached agreements to receive the signal ahead of the satellite launch. HBO began continuously transmitting via satellite on September 30, 1975, for the broadcast of the " Thrilla in Manila " heavyweight championship boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier from the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao , Philippines . The broadcast that marked the television industry innovation

13446-799: The closure, as it prevented Festival from expanding its distribution. On January 2, 1989, Selecciones en Español de HBO y Cinemax (" Spanish Selections from HBO and Cinemax "), a Spanish-language audio feed transmitted through, depending on the cable system affiliate, either an auxiliary second audio program channel (accessible through built-in and external multichannel audio decoders) or audio simulcasts via FM radio , launched. The service originally offered Spanish audio simulcasts of recent feature film releases from HBO and Cinemax's movie suppliers, and by Spring, added audio simulcasts of HBO's live boxing matches (except for certain events broadcast exclusively in Spanish on networks such as Galavisión ). Selecciones

13612-441: The company entered into a deal to distribute on video two popular Hemdale Film Corporation titles from 1986, Hoosiers and Platoon . The company was subsequently sued by Vestron Video for allegedly breaching an existing contract that the firm had with Hemdale regarding those films; a judge eventually ordered HBO to recall all rental video cassettes of Hoosiers that had been on the market since September 1987. A settlement

13778-686: The company incurred much of its debt from underground wiring expenses (costing as much as $ 300,000 per mile), and its difficulties attracting new subscribers to generate income (Manhattan Cable managed to receive only around 400 customers by 1967). On August 27, 1969, Sterling Communications consolidated ownership of the cable assets: it acquired Time-Life's 49% share in Sterling Manhattan, in exchange for stock and other assets worth $ 1.84 million. (Time-Life's interest in Sterling Communications concurrently increased from 25% to 44.5%.) Dolan

13944-421: The company provided content distribution; theoretically, this would allow Telemation to accommodate a custom feed of HBO to a system owner that declined to offer the service (such as for objections to carry R-rated movies). (Telemation later merged with a separate program marketing unit formed in April 1979, HBO Program Services, in 1980.) On March 29, 1977, the District of Columbia Appeals Court ruled in favor of

14110-416: The company's lone conventional broadcasting property, after Time sold its other broadcast television properties as it began expanding into cable system ownership). On May 9, 1973, reportedly because of high start-up and operating costs for HBO and other Sterling cable assets, Time announced it would sell its controlling share of Sterling to Warner Communications for $ 20 million. Time intended to convert

14276-525: The development of original programming for pay television. HBO, Inc.'s origins trace to December 1, 1965, when Charles Dolan —who had already done pioneering work in the commercial use of cables —was granted a franchise permit by the New York City Council to build a cable television system encompassing the Lower Manhattan section of New York City (traversing southward from 79th Street on

14442-608: The discretion of the participating service. A revised system—centered around ten content codes of two to three letters in length—was implemented across HBO and the other participating pay services on June 10, 1994. On January 7, 1998, Time Warner announced it would immediately consolidate its C-band retail businesses, HBO Direct (a retail arm of HBO's direct-to-home operations that sold HBO, Cinemax and their respective multiplex packages as well as ancillary programming services) and Turner Home Satellite (THS) (which handled C-band, direct-broadcast satellite and hospitality distribution of

14608-427: The door for services like HBO to engage in library content agreements for older films and, more broadly, the ability of cable-originated services to acquire a broad spectrum of sporting events (albeit with league-determined protections to ensure events are distributed on both broadcast and cable networks). A subsequent appeal decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on October 3, 1977, affirmed the ruling by refusing to review

14774-466: The early 1980s, HBO had an agreement with Vestron Video to distribute some of HBO's made-for-cable films and specials (such as The Terry Fox Story ); Vestron had been created by former HBO executive Austin Furst, who had been assigned to dismantle the assets of Time-Life Films. On February 21, 1984, as the broader entertainment industry began to drop their objections to and begin releasing their films through

14940-487: 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; For example, Fox (known for The Simpsons ) 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

15106-793: The flagship HBO channel in 1988, with the formation of HBO Downtown Productions. In addition to handling the production of comedy specials for HBO, the channel produced program content for Comedy Central (such as Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher and Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist ). A secondary television production unit, HBO Independent Productions (HIP), was formed in October 1990. The Los Angeles-based production company specialized in television series and specials for broadcast, cable and syndicated television as well as lower-budget theatrical films. Throughout its 16-year existence, HIP primarily produced sitcoms for broadcast television and basic cable networks (including Martin , Roc , The Ben Stiller Show and Everybody Loves Raymond ). During

15272-780: The fortunes of HBO: at the time Time-Life, Inc. bought the remaining interest of the channel in September 1973, HBO's subscribership amassed only 8,000 customers across 14 Pennsylvania cable systems and was hampered by significant churn rate as some subscribers cancelled their service because of the repetitive scheduling of programming. By 1980, HBO was carried on cable and MMDS providers in all 50 U.S. states, with more than three million subscribers nationwide. Other cable channels followed HBO's footsteps in satellite distribution; in December 1976, Atlanta independent station WTCG-TV —now WBD-owned basic cable service TBS , and owned by Ted Turner at

15438-540: The introduction of Jon Stewart in 1999 (who was former co-host of Short Attention Span Theater from 1991). Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist was also a notable original program from this era, as well as the game show Win Ben Stein's Money . Successful non-original programming included Canadian comedy group The Kids in the Hall and British shows such as the UK edition of Whose Line Is It Anyway? (the predecessor of

15604-454: The issue of the Islamic religious figure Muhammad 's perceived immunity to parody, for fear of violent retaliation. The Super Best Friends returned, but Muhammad was entirely covered by a black bar reading "CENSORED" through all of his screen time. By the second episode of the two-parter, Comedy Central decided to censor every instance of his name, as well as three entire monologues, from the end of

15770-490: The latter airs the network's stand up specials. Later on December 15, 2020, the Comedy Central Stand Up channel was removed and a new Comedy Central Animation channel was added. On December 4, 2019, Viacom re-merged with CBS Corporation to form ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global ). In 2020, Comedy Central began shifting its programming towards adult animation, with series pickups of Beavis and Butt-Head ,

15936-447: The latter company, who had previously released certain titles via Thorn EMI/HBO, acquired a major stake in rival independent video company International Video Entertainment , HBO/Cannon paid $ 43 million to return two films, Angel Heart and Extreme Prejudice , to Carolco, which then relicensed the home video rights to IVE. Additional issues arose when multiple Cannon titles intended for release through HBO/Cannon, such as Masters of

16102-435: The latter of whom performed sketches in between showings of vintage television series like Supercar , Clutch Cargo , and Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp . 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 Young Frankenstein and Kentucky Fried Movie , presented in

16268-519: The latter would have paid fellow minority shareholders Taft Television & Radio Company and Tele-Communications Inc. BET repurchased all of Time Warner's stock in April 1996 in a $ 58-million transaction. In 1985, the operations of Home Box Office Inc. were relocated to facilities on West 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue in the Bryant Park district of Midtown Manhattan. Home Box Office, Inc. began diversifying its portfolio beyond cable television during

16434-530: The laws saw as overbroad and in violation of the First Amendment, and would have precluded HBO and other pay television networks from airing programs containing material that may be considered inappropriate. Two of these involved statutes in Utah : HBO and four Utah cable systems sought a permanent injunction to a 1981 statute passed by the Utah State Legislature to restrict indecent cable program content, which

16600-726: The major broadcast television networks ( CBS , NBC and ABC ), who saw cable as a threat to their viability. Attempts to launch pay television services had been done on an experimental basis in the United States dating to 1951 (among them, Phonevision in New York City, Chicago and Hartford ; SubscriberVision in New York City; Telemeter in Palm Springs, California ; and Telemovies in Bartlesville, Oklahoma ) with little to no success, muzzled by campaigns backed by movie theater chains and commercial broadcasters to assuage television viewers to

16766-618: The manufacturing of physical products to Warner Home Video , and by 2020 had fully merged into Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. On April 1, 1986, HBO commenced test-marketing of a new mini-pay service, Festival , to six American Television and Communications Corporation systems. Festival was targeted at older cable subscribers who objected to violent and sexual content on other pay cable services, non-cable television viewers, and basic cable subscribers that had no existing premium service subscription. Festival ceased operations on December 31, 1988; HBO cited headend channel capacity limitations for

16932-824: The merger via civil injunctions, wanting to thwart the Warner offer as Paramount was seeking to acquire Time in a hostile takeover bid . The Time Inc.-Warner Communications merger was completed on January 10, 1990, resulting in the consolidated entity becoming known as Time Warner. (Manhattan Cable Television would be integrated into Time Warner Cable —formed through a consolidation of the cable system assets of American Television and Communications [ATC], which Time acquired for $ 140 million in January 1978 and subsequently integrated with Manhattan Cable, and Warner Cable Communications—and would adopt its parent unit's identity in January 1993. Time Warner Cable would be spun-off from its namesake parent as an independent company in 2009, and later merged into Charter Communications in May 2016.) By

17098-425: The minor exception of the 1985 comedy film Volunteers . A secondary internal film production unit, HBO Showcase, was created in 1986 to focus primarily on high-quality drama productions. One of its productions, 1989's Age Old Friends , became the unit's first film to earn Primetime Emmy Awards, respectively for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie ( Hume Cronyn ) and Outstanding Supporting Actor in

17264-710: The most amazing stories to life, with Discovery’s global brand that has always stood brightly for integrity, innovation and inspiration." The merger was officially completed on April 8, 2022, with Home Box Office, Inc. becoming a subsidiary of WBD; in addition to his existing duties as CEO of Home Box Office, Inc., Casey Bloys—one of four upper-level WarnerMedia division executives to remain with WBD post-merger—assumed oversight of Magnolia Network (through parent unit Warner Bros. Discovery Lifestyle Brands), which had previously been managed alongside Discovery's other factual and lifestyle brands. (The other Discovery networks continue to report to Kathleen Finch, who also assumed oversight of

17430-432: The most-watched episode ever in the show's history. The finale was the most-watched cable program of the night in its time slot, beating The Daily Show which was seen by 2.032 million viewers. The Colbert Report was replaced on Comedy Central by Larry Wilmore from The Daily Show , who began hosting his series The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore on January 19, 2015. The show aired until August 18, 2016, when it

17596-406: The much-anticipated third season of Chappelle's Show . Meanwhile, The Daily Show continued to climb in the ratings. In October 2005, on the occasion of a new three-year contract for South Park and the launch of Daily Show spin-off 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

17762-547: The multitude of tall buildings on Manhattan Island subjected television signals to reception impairments. Dolan curried the financial backing of Time-Life, Inc. (then the book publishing unit of Time Inc. ), resulting in Manhattan Cable becoming one of its first cable system properties. Despite the investments from Time-Life's share of Sterling (initially 20% at the beginning of operations), Sterling Manhattan consistently lost money throughout its first six years of operation;

17928-469: The network during its first years on air. Viacom bought out AOL Time Warner's half in April 2003 for $ 1.23 billion. 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

18094-514: The network introduced their now-iconic logo, which is a globe showing the Americas with tall buildings on the North American part and a black marquee ring (see below). 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

18260-486: 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 a.m. ET / PT , 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

18426-588: The network's actions as tantamount to abetting terrorism. As a rare result in the series' history, "201" and the episode that preceded it were heavily edited and are never aired as reruns. Since the early 2000s, Comedy Central has expanded globally with localized channels in Europe (including the United Kingdom ), India , Southeast Asia , Latin America , Australia and New Zealand , Middle East , Africa Spain and in

18592-562: The operations of HBO and other movie- and sports-based cable services (including local and regional subscription television operations). Under the regulations, cable-originated services could not devote more than 90% of their programming schedule to theatrical motion pictures and sporting events, and could not broadcast movies released within three years of their initial theatrical exhibition. Specific sporting events (such as annual tournaments) could not be "siphoned off" by cable services if such events had been televised on broadcast television within

18758-623: The past five years, and regular season games involving major sports leagues was limited to allow a proportion of games to continue to be shown on broadcast television or else cable programmers would be required to limit their sports programming proportionately should over-the-air sports telecasts decline. On November 3, Home Box Office Inc., Manhattan Cable Television, five other cable television system operators (American Television and Communications Corp., Viacode , UA-Columbia Cablevision , Warner Cable Communications and TelePrompTer Corp. ) and competing pay-cable programming operator Theatrevision filed

18924-616: The plaintiffs in Home Box Office v. FCC , overturning cable television anti-siphoning rules. (Similar rules applying to over-the-air pay television were affirmed in the ruling.) The 105-page decision held that the FCC trespassed on the First Amendment rights of cable operators, pointing that cable bandwidth was not a scarce resource and therefore, was not subject to limitations affirmed in the Supreme Court 's 1969 Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC ruling (which upheld equal time provisions in

19090-485: The remaining 29% share, with each shareholder group appointing representative board members ; David Zaslav , President and CEO of Discovery, would head the new company, replacing WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar. On June 1, 2021, it was announced that the merged company would be known as Warner Bros. Discovery ; Zaslav explained that it would reflect "the combination of Warner Bros.' fabled hundred-year legacy of creative, authentic storytelling and taking bold risks to bring

19256-504: The roastees have included Denis Leary , Jeff Foxworthy , Pamela Anderson , William Shatner , Flavor Flav , Bob Saget , Larry the Cable Guy , Joan Rivers , Rob Reiner , David Hasselhoff , Donald Trump , Charlie Sheen , Roseanne Barr , James Franco , Justin Bieber , Rob Lowe , Bruce Willis , and Alec Baldwin . The success of South Park , despite its mature content, encouraged

19422-405: The rules as administrative record did not support FCC allegations of content "siphoning" by cable-originated services. NBC and ABC , however, requested re-consideration of an increase to the minimum period of exclusive broadcast exhibition of movies from two years to three.) Earlier in 1975, the film exhibition rules prevented HBO from licensing two 20th Century Fox films released well outside

19588-471: The same content prohibitions that are already in place on broadcast television. The PTMC has also persuaded some advertisers to lower their interest for the channel. PTMC founder and former president L. Brent Bozell III said the channel has managed "to reach the top of its field in spite of – or, better put, because of – the network's sheer lack of comedic talent" by its "extensive reliance on shocking or disgusting humor." On November 5, 2007, an open letter

19754-410: The same corporate umbrella as AT&T's telecommunications holdings, including satellite provider DirecTV and IPTV /broadband provider AT&T U-verse . Time Warner shareholders approved the merger on February 15, 2017. On November 20, 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against AT&T and Time Warner in an attempt to block the merger, citing antitrust concerns surrounding

19920-545: The same manner as broadcast television. A separate city ordinance in Miami that would have allowed the revocation of Miami Cablevision (now operated by Comcast)'s franchise license for carrying programs that the city manager deemed "obscene or indecent" was struck down by Judge William Hoeveler of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on August 3, 1983, on the grounds outlined in Jenkins' ruling, and affirmed by

20086-420: The service. Programming on HBO initially consisted of theatrical films and event programming (much of which was sourced to the service through an agreement with Madison Square Garden that dated to 1969, and was extended to allow regional broadcasts one week before HBO launched), arranged in the form of a double feature , or a single movie presentation paired with either a sports or special event (often bridged by

20252-469: The show after this incident. 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

20418-406: The show indicated 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

20584-466: The show. The monologues dealt with the subjects of censorship and intimidation but did not use Muhammad's name. Trey Parker and Matt Stone have since issued a statement to the press, confirming that the "bleeps" were added weeks after the show was finished and that Comedy Central has refused to let them post the original version of South Park , in addition to retroactively removing the original "Super Best Friends" episode. Trey Parker threatened to quit

20750-517: The sixth through 16th seasons. After two years of limited distribution, the two channels merged into one, relaunching on April 1 , 1991, as CTV: The Comedy Network . On June 1, 1991, the network changed its name to Comedy Central to prevent issues with the Canadian broadcast television network CTV , which would eventually be its Canadian content partner through The Comedy Network when that channel started operations six years later. Around this time,

20916-612: The sketch comedy show Important Things with Demetri Martin , which began airing in February 2009. On April 1, 2009, Comedy Central began airing in New Zealand as channel 010 on SKY Digital . On April 6, Paramount Comedy in the UK and Ireland rebranded as Comedy Central. On April 7, 2009, it was announced Comedy Central would air new stand-up comedy specials starring Christopher Titus , Gabriel Iglesias , Pablo Francisco , Jim Breuer , Mitch Fatel and Pete Correale, and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham . An animated show entitled Ugly Americans

21082-621: The standalone HBO service's average $ 14.99 monthly fee. Stankey, meanwhile, wanted to leverage HBO and the broader WarnerMedia content library to develop a viable streaming competitor to Netflix , which resulted in the development and May 2020 launch of HBO Max over HBO Go and HBO Now's existing technical infrastructure. On March 4, 2019, AT&T announced a major reorganization of WarnerMedia's assets, dividing WarnerMedia's television properties among three corporate divisions. Home Box Office, Inc. (encompassing HBO, Cinemax, and their respective wholly owned international channels and streaming services)

21248-399: The start of 1990, HBO served 17.3 million subscribers out of a cumulative 23.7 million subscribers covered between it and sister network Cinemax. On November 15, 1989, Home Box Office, Inc. launched The Comedy Channel , a comedy-centered basic cable channel featuring clips excerpted from stand-up comedy sets, comedic feature films and television series. The Comedy Channel's programming model

21414-589: The strategy established by Thorn EMI continued; HBO/Cannon struck deals with Kings Road Entertainment , fellow Time, Inc. property Sports Illustrated , and De Laurentiis Entertainment Group for video rights to theatrical films (and, in SI's case, direct-to-video product). Ironically, however, very few Cannon films were released by HBO/Cannon, due in part to other deals Cannon had previously made with MGM/UA Home Video and Media Home Entertainment . HBO/Cannon also ran into issues with Cannon's rival Carolco Pictures ; when

21580-803: The supposed threat of pay television to the movie industry and free-to-air television access, limited user interest, and FCC restrictions on the types of programming that could be offered to subscription services. Undeterred, Dolan managed to persuade Time-Life to assist him in backing the project. After the Federal Communications Commission ruled that local governments could not restrict the operation of subscription television services in cable franchise terms, in July 1971, Sterling Communications—now consisting of Sterling Manhattan; its Long Island -based sister system, Sterling Nassau Cable Television; production firm Allegro Films; and direct-to-cable programming firm Television Presentations Inc.—informed

21746-682: The system's parent company. Gerald M. Levin —an entertainment industry attorney previously with New York City-based law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett , who had been with Home Box Office since it began operations as its director of finance , and later as its vice president and director of programming—replaced Dolan as the company's president and CEO; by September, he was joined by Time Life vice president J. Richard Munro as chairman of Home Box Office as well as Time-Life Broadcast's other subsidiaries, Manhattan Cable Television and NBC affiliate WOTV (now WOOD-TV ) in Grand Rapids, Michigan (which became

21912-530: The system—inspired by the advisory ratings featured in HBO and Cinemax's respective program guides and those distributed by other participating premium cable services—was in response to concerns from parents and advocacy groups about violent content on television, allowing HBO and other services to assign individual ratings corresponding to the objectionable content depicted in specific programs (and categorized based on violence, profanity, sexuality or miscellaneous mature material). Labels are assigned to each program at

22078-455: The television production business, in April 1987, with the formation of Tri-Star Television . Towards the second half of the decade, the partnership transitioned into a singularly owned entity: CBS sold its ownership stake in the studio in November 1985, followed by HBO/Time Inc. in December 1985. HBO transferred its venture shares to Columbia Pictures , which integrated Columbia and Tri-Star into

22244-493: The then-burgeoning home video marketplace, HBO announced plans to launch a home video unit, and began conversations with executives at both Vestron and Thorn EMI Video , in hopes that a joint venture between the network and at least one of the two video distributors could be established. HBO ultimately selected Thorn EMI, and that November, Thorn EMI/HBO Video was formed to distribute Thorn EMI's existing selection of product, plus HBO-produced programming. Thorn EMI's strategy at

22410-441: The three former Turner networks reassigned to WarnerMedia Entertainment being brought back under the same umbrella as sister networks Cartoon Network/ Adult Swim , Boomerang and Turner Classic Movies.) Among the around 800 employees whose positions were eliminated as part of the changes, the restructuring resulted in the layoffs of around 150 Home Box Office, Inc. employees. On May 17, 2021, AT&T and Discovery, Inc. reached

22576-535: The time it went national—became the first television broadcaster to transmit via satellite as a basic cable service, pioneering the " superstation " concept (non-network-affiliated television stations that transmit on a regional or national basis primarily through cable). This, along with the CBN Satellite Service (now Freeform ) launching by satellite in April 1977—pioneered the development of basic cable, using HBO's blueprint of utilizing satellite delivery for

22742-634: The time was to supplement the modest output of Thorn EMI's Screen Entertainment division , by way of signing distribution agreements with various mid-level and independent film production companies (such as Orion Pictures and New Line Cinema , as well as UK television station Thames Television ) that did not have their own home video units. In August 1986, Cannon Films acquired Thorn EMI's interest in Thorn EMI/HBO Video, inherited from Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment, which Time Inc. subsequently renamed HBO/Cannon Video . Under Cannon's part-ownership,

22908-503: The transaction. U.S. clearance of the proposed merger—which had already received approval from European , Mexican , Chilean and Brazilian regulatory authorities—was affirmed by court ruling on June 12, 2018, after District of Columbia U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon ruled in favor of AT&T, and dismissed antitrust claims asserted in the DOJ's lawsuit. The merger closed two days later on June 14, 2018, with Time Warner becoming

23074-573: The two channels. Canadian users attempting to visit Comedy Central websites were redirected to The Comedy Network's website. The Canadian channel retains its brand name, but the agreement is otherwise very similar to the earlier CTV–Viacom deal for MTV in Canada . As of 2011, this geocaching no longer applies and both the Comedy Central and The Comedy Network websites can be accessed worldwide, except for videos which remain only accessible within each respective country. In December 2007, Comedy Central picked up

23240-487: The two existing platforms continue to be sold, WarnerMedia began phasing out HBO Now on participating digital platforms with the launch of HBO Max, which utilizes a similar design interface as HBO Now for its Apple and Android apps. On October 22, 2016, AT&T disclosed an offer to acquire Time Warner for $ 108.7 billion, including assumed debt held by the latter company. The merger would bring Time Warner's various media properties, including Home Box Office, Inc., under

23406-482: The two-year window, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sound of Music (1965). Though rules for movies and sports were tightened, the FCC conversely drafted relaxed rules limiting pay television services from airing a television series unless it has had no prior conventional television broadcast, suggesting allowing pay services to carry series not purchased by broadcast outlets, under contract to

23572-441: The umbrella company Columbia Pictures Entertainment. (As of 2020 , TriStar operates exclusively as a film production arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment . Its television unit was merged with Columbia Pictures Television and joint venture studio Columbia TriStar Television in 2002 to form Sony Pictures Television ). Film production for the HBO television service commenced in 1983, through the formation of HBO Premiere Films, which

23738-401: The unit was subsequently renamed HBO Video . HBO began taking action to ensure that their video arm would continue to have fresh product, such as an eight film co-production deal with ITC Entertainment , which gave HBO all pay cable and video rights (while ITC retained all foreign and free-to-air TV rights to the films), and promotional deals designed to push rental releases. Also that year,

23904-459: The value of Sterling stock in order to "force" the sale at below market value "far less than its true value.") As the acquisition was being completed, the service had struggled to grow to complete viability: by October, it had around 8,000 subscribers and was carried on 13 cable systems in Pennsylvania and southern New York State with a combined 110,095 subscribers, and it was suffering from

24070-570: Was Ricochet (a co-production with Silver Pictures ); other titles produced throughout Cinema Plus' existence included Mom and Dad Save the World , Switch and Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead . All of the films—none of which were critical or commercial successes—were released between 1991 and 1992, and were distributed theatrically by HBO sister company Warner Bros. Pictures . Home Box Office, Inc. entered into television production outside of

24236-639: Was Teleguide, a closed-circuit television system started by his initial company, Sterling Movies U.S.A., in June 1962; it distributed a schedule of tourist information , news, interview segments and feature interstitials to hotels, and by 1964, apartment buildings and office buildings in the New York metropolitan area . Through Dolan's Sterling Information Services subsidiary, Manhattan Cable TV Services began limited cable service in September 1966. Manhattan Cable (renamed Sterling Manhattan Cable Television in January 1971)

24402-422: Was also picked up by the network. In 2009, The Goode Family premiered. Also in 2009, Thomas Lennon announced via Twitter that Reno 911! had been canceled after six seasons, much to fan disapproval. The network also played a role in the revival of the animated series Futurama , which Fox had canceled in 2003. New episodes began airing on Comedy Central in 2010. But in May 2013, Comedy Central released

24568-408: Was announced that Stephen Colbert would leave Comedy Central to host The Late Show on CBS , following the retirement of David Letterman , the first host of Late Show . The final episode of The Colbert Report aired on Comedy Central on December 18, 2014, after nine years and a total of 1,447 episodes. The final episode of The Colbert Report was watched by 2.481 million viewers, making it

24734-680: Was canceled due to low ratings. On February 10, 2015, Jon Stewart also announced his retirement and that he would also leave the network and The Daily Show after 16 years. Stewart's final episode aired on August 6, 2015, and Trevor Noah succeeded Stewart as new host on September 28, 2015. 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. On November 16, 2017, Comedy Central launched

24900-430: Was cut short by the advanced-stage osteosarcoma that ended his life through associated complications soon afterward. Differing from most television films produced for cable television, most of the original movies produced by HBO have featured major film actors over the years, ranging from James Stewart to Michael Douglas . The unit—which would be rechristened HBO Pictures in 1986—expanded beyond its telefilm slate, which

25066-513: Was formed as a means of releasing albums by comedians that have appeared on the network. By 2003, Viacom gained full ownership of Comedy Central, and since 2003, Comedy Central has created a tradition of roasting comedians in the style of the New York Friars' Club roasts. During these roasts, friends of the roastee, along with other comedians, take turns making fun of the roastee, the other roasters, and occasionally audience members. So far,

25232-647: Was granted by Judge Bruce S. Jenkins of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah on November 17, 1981; the statute was declared unconstitutional as a violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments in a separate ruling by Jenkins on January 13, 1982. A second attempt at addressing obscene cable programming, the Cable Television Programming Decency Act, was declared unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds by Utah District Court Senior District Judge Aldon J. Anderson on April 10, 1985, in

25398-505: Was looking for a way to help his struggling cable company grow to become financially viable. In the summer of 1971, during a family vacation to France aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2 , Dolan conceived "The Green Channel", a codenamed concept for a cable-originated television channel that would be distributed via Sterling Manhattan and other participating cable systems. The proposed service would offer unedited theatrical movies licensed from

25564-403: Was originally developed to produce original made-for-cable movies and miniseries with higher budgets and production values compared to other television films. The film division began producing original movies for the network in 1983 with the debut of The Terry Fox Story , a biographical film on the amputee runner who embarked on a cross-country run across his home country of Canada that

25730-754: Was reassigned to WarnerMedia Entertainment , placing it under the same umbrella as sister basic cable networks TBS, TNT and TruTV (which were formerly part of the dissolved Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary), and under the leadership of former NBC and Showtime executive Bob Greenblatt . However, Home Box Office, Inc. otherwise operates as an autonomous subsidiary within the WarnerMedia Entertainment umbrella. (Other former Turner assets were split between two other new subsidiaries: WarnerMedia News & Sports , which oversees CNN and its sister networks, Turner Sports and management operations for NBA TV , and Warner Bros. Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics,

25896-548: Was received by UA-Columbia Cablevision 's Fort Pierce and Vero Beach , Florida , systems, and American Television and Communications Corporation's Jackson , Mississippi system, alongside systems already receiving HBO via microwave beforehand in the northeastern U.S. The service temporarily retransmitted its signal from transponder on Westar 1 for the first three months of satellite transmissions, before switching to Satcom I when that satellite commenced commercial operations on February 1, 1976. It also gradually turned around

26062-608: Was relaunched as again as channel on 2 May 2012. VH1 Block removed on Comedy Central Family Poland. On 3 November 2017, channel launched on Hungary as replacement of VIVA Hungary. On 31 May 2018, the channel stopped broadcast in Netherlands but the following programs moved to Comedy Central Extra . On 22 February 2018, the block Comedy Central Extra was launched on Comedy Central Family Poland as night programing block on 8pm CET. In 2019, Comedy Central Family changed their logo to yellow. On 3 March 2020, Comedy Central Family Poland changed name to Polsat Comedy Central Extra. Until 2024, Hungary

26228-576: Was renamed to «Comedy Central» and broadcasts in CIS countries (except Russia and Belarus). On October 21, 2013, the network premiered a nightly comedy- game show series @midnight hosted by Chris Hardwick . @midnight served as an expansion to the network's nightly late-night programming. Due to low ratings, it was canceled on August 4, 2017, with the show airing its 600th and final episode as an hour-long special. On May 14, 2014, Comedy Central expanded to Spain, replacing Paramount Comedy. In 2014, it

26394-548: Was replaced by two dedicated Spanish feeds of the two services, HBO en Español and Cinemax en Español, on September 27, 1993; both channels acted as part-time simulcast feeds with added first-run Spanish-language movies (mostly from Mexico , Argentina and Spain ), and Spanish dubs of HBO's non-sports-event original programming. On March 4, 1989, Warner Communications announced its intent to merge with Time Inc. for $ 14.9 billion in cash and stock. The merger underwent two unsuccessful efforts by Paramount Communications to block

26560-503: 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. 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

26726-565: Was scaled back, and soon ventured into independent film production. In 1985, HBO made a co-financing agreement with Orion Pictures in order to finance Three Amigos! , in order to receive half of the film's planned budget. When HBO Pictures was formed, HBO entered into a limited partnership with Thorn EMI to form Silver Screen Partners . The first L.P. of its kind to be developed for the financing of feature film production, Silver Screen released only seven films between 1983 and 1986. Most of these were not commercial or critical successes, with

26892-622: Was similar to the original format of MTV (which, ironically, was launched under WBD's predecessor Warner Communications and American Express's media joint venture, Warner–Amex Satellite Entertainment). Its competitor was Viacom-owned Ha!: The TV Comedy Network , another startup comedy-oriented cable channel that was formally announced after The Comedy Channel and debuted on April 1 , 1990, focusing on reruns of older network sitcoms. Both channels experienced difficulties gaining sufficient cable distribution (both Ha! and The Comedy Channel each had fewer than 10 million subscribers), and struggled to turn

27058-427: Was the first urban underground cable television system to operate in the United States. Rather than string up cable on telephone poles or use microwave antennas to receive the signals, Sterling had laid new cable lines beneath the streets of and into buildings throughout Manhattan, and repurposed Teleguide's existing cable infrastructure for use by the new operation. Sterling's use of underground cables complied with

27224-515: Was the only country to still have the Comedy Central Family brand. The channel closed on July 6, 2024 due to low ratings, ending the CC Family brand. Home Box Office, Inc. The company has achieved several pioneering innovations in the cable television industry, including its satellite uplink of HBO as the first television network in the world to transmit through that technology, and

27390-676: Was ultimately reached that allowed HBO to offer video cassettes of the contested films for the first half of 1988, after which the rights reverted to Vestron. Over time, HBO Video—which eventually became HBO Home Video in January 1994—shifted focus away from releasing films from independent studios to releasing HBO's catalog of original programs and films on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. In addition, HBO Video also entered into various licensing deals with distributors such as Congress Video, Goodtimes Home Video , and Video Treasures to distribute and re-issue HBO's content catalogs. The unit—renamed HBO Home Entertainment on September 5, 2009—eventually transferred

27556-503: 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 censored the South Park episode " 201 " in response to a death threat issued by users of a radical Muslim website over the episode's planned depiction of the Islamic prophet Muhammad , which led several newspaper columnists to condemn

#292707