October 17, 2007

The Comedy Network Turns 10 Today and Goes Full-On-Cyber with Revolutionary Revamped Website

The Comedy Network Turns 10 Today and Goes Full-On-Cyber with Revolutionary Revamped Website
-- Bigger, badder site includes exclusive programming and beefed up on-demand catalogue --
-- Good Morning World and Lil’Bush premiere exclusively on thecomedynetwork.ca --
-- Full host of Comedy Central programming now available on Comedy Network video player --


Toronto, Ontario (October 17, 2007) – The Comedy Network turns 10 years old today and embraces the future of comedy with a revolutionary change in how it delivers content to viewers. The Comedy Network announced today that it is celebrating “10 years well wasted” with a revamped website that makes www.thecomedynetwork.ca the go-to online destination for all things comedy in Canada. Starting today, visitors to the site now have access to a robust and constantly expanding catalogue of free, on-demand programming, including full episodes of their favourite shows, games and diversions to help them celebrate “10 years well wasted.”

It’s the next evolution for The Comedy Network, which became Canada’s first and only comedy channel on Oct. 17, 1997. Visitors to thecomedynetwork.ca will now be able to enjoy the following features:

- Hundreds of hours of on-demand, broadband programming, previously unavailable on the website, including 12 new TV series and 17 series created exclusively for the web
- Full episodes of South Park, The Sarah Silverman Program, Keys to the VIP and more!
- 56 new games including the hilarious new time-waster, South Park:Asskicker!
- Two, new, web-only shows: Good Morning World and Lil’Bush
- The full compliment of online programming currently available on Comedycentral.com, including episodes of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, available on-demand the morning after their television broadcast

"Our research shows that this new-fangled internet thingy is gaining in popularity,” said Brent Haynes, Vice President, The Comedy Network. “After 10 years as the destination for comedy on television, thecomedynetwork.ca could just become the best non-porn website ever.”

To mark the website re-launch, The Comedy Network’s newest original production, Good Morning World, will premiere online at thecomedynetwork.ca on Monday, November 12. Starring Canadian comics Peter Oldring (Blue Collar TV, Young People Fucking) and Pat Kelly (Intern Academy) as the show’s overly-tanned and big-haired hosts, Good Morning World features the worst of morning show stereotypes. Peter and Pat deliver nonsensical news stories amidst missed cues and poorly cut interviews, all from their candy-coated, 80s-style studio. Good Morning World premieres online with 5-minute webisodes each weekday. Then, a week’s worth of webisodes will be re-capped on The Comedy Network, Fridays at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT, beginning November 16.

The hugely popular animated series, Lil’ Bush, is available now at thecomedynetwork.ca. In this web-only series, American President George W. Bush is presented as an animated future president, along with his pals Lil' Condi, Lil' Rummy (voiced by Iggy Pop), Lil' Cheney and Lil' Jeb. Hiding out from Barbara and George Sr., these precocious pre-pubescents terrorize the White House and solve the world's problems, all before bedtime. Whether he's squaring off against schoolyard rivals like Lil' Kim Jong Il, taking a field trip to Iraq, or becoming BFFs with Lil’ Tony Blair, Lil' Bush and the gang are just playing politics.

Thecomedynetwork.ca will also feature 17 other series made exclusively for the web. These series are typically comprised of 5-10 episodes, with each episode ranging from 1-5 minutes in length. This includes original Comedy Network series, The Owl and the Man, starring Pat Thorton as both the owl and the man; and Tiny Hands, a live action show about the life and times of Dave Gordon, a man who has hands the size of a baby’s. Gordon is portrayed by series creator Jon Glaser, longtime writer/performer for Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

Also part of the re-launch, thecomedynetwork.ca will now feature the full compliment of programming currently available on www.comedycentral.com, the online home of
of Comedy Central. This is the fulfillment of the broadband portion of a multi-platform content deal signed by CTV and Comedy Central earlier this year. The deal delivers the full Comedy Central library to CTV and The Comedy Network for broadcast, broadband, VOD, Mobile and more. The Comedy Network will roll-out the mobile portion of the deal at a later date.

As of noon today, Canadian visitors to Comedy Central’s website will now be redirected to thecomedynetwork.ca where they will be able to enjoy all of the Comedy Central programming they love plus a whole whack of homegrown hilarity. Thecomedynetwork.ca will now host full episodes of Comedy Central favourites such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, The Sarah Silverman Program, South Park, Mind of Mencia and Drawn Together. Micro-sites for Comedy Central programming such as The Daily Show’s Indecision2008.com and The Colbert Report’s ColbertNation.com will also be available via thecomedynewtork.ca.

In addition to Comedy Central programming, hilarious Comedy Network original productions, such as The Jon Dore Television Show (premiering tonight at 10 p.m. ET/PT on The Comedy
Network!) and Keys to the VIP (one of our most-watched broadband offerings) will also be available on-demand at thecomedynetwork.ca. Additional Comedy Network original productions, such as Puppets Who Kill, will available exclusively at thecomedynetwork.ca.

The Comedy Network’s 10th Anniversary season will be filled with all the laughs, wackiness and mischief you’ve come to expect…and then some. Watch for the outrageous new original series The Jon Dore Television Show, along with a new season from everyone’s favourite potty-mouth Sarah Silverman in The Sarah Silverman Program. Additionally, there are more games of seduction from the playas in a new season of Keys to the VIP and the crew in Dog River, SK return to Corner Gas. New imports include American Body Shop, Live at Gotham and Man Stroke Woman. As well, new episodes from The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, South Park Uncensored, The Simpsons, Mind of Mencia, Surburban Shootout, The Simple Life, Drawn Together and King of The Hill will keep viewers chuckling until its time to celebrate our 11th anniversary season.

Canada's first-and-only specialty comedy service, The Comedy Network airs comedy of all kinds, 24-hours-a-day, across multiple platforms, including a revolutionary broadband service at thecomedynetwork.ca. Launched in October 1997, The Comedy Network broadcasts, uncut and uncensored, an eclectic mix of scripted, stand-up, sketch, improv, and animated comedy - as well as topical comedy talk shows, game shows and classic situation comedies. Offering an unrivalled slate of original Canadian programming, The Comedy Network reinvests nearly 50 per cent of its revenues into home-grown productions. The Comedy Network, a division of CTV Television Inc., is available to nearly 6 million households across the country. Visit The Comedy Network's website at thecomedynetwork.ca.

- TCN –

For more information, please contact:
Sara McLaren, The Comedy Network, 416.332.5057 or smclaren@ctv.ca
Jim Quan, The Comedy Network, 416.332.5311 or jquan@ctv.ca

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