COMEDY CENTRAL(R) Creates New Live Entertainment Division

COMEDY CENTRAL(R) Creates New Live Entertainment Division

COMEDY CENTRAL Live Entertainment(R) Established To Spread The #1 Brand In Comedy Off The Network And Into The Streets Through Comedy Festivals, Live Tours And Performance DVDs And CDs

Longtime COMEDY CENTRAL Veteran Mitch Fried Named To Head Up New Division

Network Signs Stephen Lynch To Multifaceted Deal That Includes COMEDY CENTRAL Live's First International Stand-up Tour, A U.S. Stand-up Tour, One-Hour Stand-up Special And DVD

NEW YORK, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- COMEDY CENTRAL, the preeminent comedy brand on television, has created COMEDY CENTRAL Live Entertainment, a new business division that will focus on building upon its leadership position in the live comedy industry through stand-up tours, comedy festivals, performance DVDs and CDs, it was announced today by Michele Ganeless, president, COMEDY CENTRAL. Mitch Fried, formerly senior vice president, promotion marketing, COMEDY CENTRAL, who also established and has overseen COMEDY CENTRAL Live!, the network's stand-up touring business, since its creation in 2002, will head up the new division as senior vice president, COMEDY CENTRAL Live Entertainment.

"Creating the Live Entertainment division is the next step in the evolution of the COMEDY CENTRAL brand that has been steadily growing and expanding out of our viewers' living rooms and into their everyday lives," said Ganeless.

"By providing talent, whether they're just starting out or are already household names, with the strength and power of the COMEDY CENTRAL brand we will be able to maximize their exposure and revenue by reaching their fans across multiple platforms, be it through a tour, a special, a CD, a DVD or all of the above, making COMEDY CENTRAL an even more appealing home for the top comedians in the industry," said Fried. "We're very excited to be able to announce our new deal with Stephen Lynch, which will see us launch our first international stand-up tour, as well as produce our first one-hour special with this incredibly talented comedian."

In addition to increasing COMEDY CENTRAL's presence on the stand-up circuit and, through strategic partnerships, its visibility on the comedy festival circuit, Fried will also spearhead the network's efforts to maximize live performance exposure and revenue across already established business lines. Serving as a liaison among talent, their management and other COMEDY CENTRAL divisions including the Grammy(R) Award-winning COMEDY CENTRAL Records(R) label, COMEDY CENTRAL Home Entertainment(R) DVDs and on-air COMEDY CENTRAL Original Stand-up Specials, Fried will seek to expand the business partnerships between the network and the talent community through overall package deals with top comedians that could encompass any combination of a nationwide tour, a one-hour, on-air special, a DVD release and a CD release.

One of the first projects to be developed under this new division, COMEDY CENTRAL has signed a deal with comedian Stephen Lynch, who starred in Broadway's "The Wedding Singer" and has been featured in two "COMEDY CENTRAL Presents" half-hour specials, that will encompass a major-market U.S. stand-up tour and, in a first for COMEDY CENTRAL Live, an international stand-up tour that will visit London, Ireland, Sweden, Holland and more. The deal also includes a one-hour stand-up special with Lynch that will premiere on COMEDY CENTRAL before being released, unedited, on DVD via COMEDY CENTRAL Home Entertainment.

Already well-established, COMEDY CENTRAL Live! stand-up tours have sold over 1.5 million tickets to performances at theaters, colleges and casinos nationwide, generating over $60 million in box office receipts. Over the past six years, COMEDY CENTRAL Live! has nurtured talent and produced stand-up tours from the small scale of the free stage on Lincoln Road at the South Beach Comedy Festival, featuring up-and-coming comedians, to college tours with more established talent like Mike Birbiglia, Greg Giraldo and Christian Finnegan, to, on the far end of the spectrum, major, nationwide tours with the likes of Lewis Black, Jim Gaffigan, Brian Regan, Wanda Sykes, Dave Attell, Dave Chappelle and Carlos Mencia, whose last tour sold over 300,000 tickets and grossed over $10 million. In addition, the network began staging "COMEDY CENTRAL Park" in 2007, an annual event featuring a free night of stand-up comedy, live in New York City's Central Park with talent such as Dave Attell, Stephen Lynch and Mike Birbiglia and performing in front of packed crowds of over 5,000 fans each year.

On the festival front COMEDY CENTRAL has been the national media partner of the South Beach Comedy Festival, held annually in January in South Beach, FL, since 2005 and recently announced a multi-year partnership with The New York Comedy Festival that, for the first-time, provides the Festival with a national television partner to showcase its prestigious comedy line-up. The Festival, celebrating its Fifth Anniversary, will feature some of today's biggest names in comedy for its 2008 roster including Frank Caliendo, Louis C.K., Craig Ferguson, Carlos Mencia, Joel McHale, Tracy Morgan, B.J. Novak, Brian Regan, Sarah Silverman, and Katt Williams.

COMEDY CENTRAL, the only all-comedy network, currently is seen in more than 95 million homes nationwide. COMEDY CENTRAL is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned division of Viacom Inc.'s (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:and)(NYSE:VIA.B) MTV Networks. COMEDY CENTRAL's Internet address is www.comedycentral.com. For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs visit Press Central, COMEDY CENTRAL's press Web site at www.comedycentral.com/press.

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B), is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with more than 150 channels worldwide, owns and operates the following television programming services -- MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, VH1, mtvU, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN/THE N, VH1 CLASSIC, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, all of these networks trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 300 interactive properties worldwide, including online, broadband, wireless and interactive television services and also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.

Source: COMEDY CENTRAL Corporate Communications

CONTACT: Steve Albani of COMEDY CENTRAL Corporate Communications,
+1-212-767-8695, steve.albani@comedycentral.com

Web Site: http://www.comedycentral.com/
http://www.comedycentral.com/press

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