“We are thrilled to return to Comedy Central and to start spending our Friday nights with MTV2,” said Scott Roesch, Atom’s general manager. “Playing on both networks is going to give us access to an even bigger audience seeking original comedy on every platform.”
It’s part of the more fluid model of talent development that we’re seeing out of Viacom, one that uses Atom as an incubator for budding comedians and their web originals to see what piques an interest from fans and TV development execs. Atom’s animated news comedy 5-On was one such success story for creator Devin Clark who had the series picked up as a half-hour show on Comedy Central under the new name Ugly Americans—which debuts March 17.
Several comedians in Atom’s stable with web series have appeared on the Atom TV include Andy Dick, A.D. Miles, Nick Thune, Dan Levy, Bryan Tucker, Waverly Films, Team Tiger Awesome, Dutch West, Jason Nash, and The Landline. Clearly the added exposure of Atom’s series will help lure and retain up and coming comedy talent that might otherwise be drawn elsewhere. Funny or Die’s new HBO series Funny or Die Presents offers a similar appeal for series creators.
Besides the better time slot, it gets Atom.com videos in front of a core set of young male viewers. MTV2 reaches 75 million homes in the US with what they call “the highest concentration of males 12-24 on TV today,” while Comedy Central hits 98 million homes.
UPDATE: Ratings breakdown for Atom TV seasons 1 and 2 on Comedy Central:
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