Comedy Central is an Australian and New Zealand 24-hour linear subscription television channel dedicated to comedy programming owned by Paramount Global, launched on April Fool's Day 2009 in New Zealand and on 1 April 2016 in Australia. The channel is exclusively available via Australian IPTV provider Fetch TV in Australia and is broadcast on the Sky TV platform in New Zealand. It was one of the first Comedy Central franchises to be launched outside the United States. The channel has a strong blend of animation, stand-up and scripted programs. The core audience demographic covers the 15–48 age bracket. It features well known international titles, as well as some local content. It has strong viewership and is one of the top entertainment channels on the Sky TV platform.[1]
 | |
| Country | Australia |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Australia, New Zealand |
| Network | Comedy Central |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 1080i (16:9 HDTV) (downscaled to 720p for the Australian feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Paramount Networks UK & Australia |
| Sister channels | 10 / 10 HD 10 Peach 10 Bold MTV Club MTV MTV Hits MTV 80s Nickelodeon AU & NZ Nickelodeon AU (free-to-air) Nick Jr. NickMusic |
| History | |
| Launched | 1 April 2009 (New Zealand) 1 April 2016 (Australia) |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Fetch Mobi (Australia) | Channel 110 |
| Sky Go (New Zealand) | skygo.co.nz |
| Paramount+ (Australia) | paramountplus.com |
History
On 29 February 2016, it was announced that following discussions since mid 2015, Fetch TV had finalised discussions with Viacom on Friday 26 February 2016 to launch Comedy Central.[2] The launch comes following increased local presence by Comedy Central.[2][3] The channel, which will be advertisement free and be exclusively available via Fetch TV,[4] will be broadcast from Australia and as a result see Viacom hire additional local personnel for operations.[2] The launch of Comedy Central coincided with the initial closure of sister channel MTV Classic prior to its eventual rebrand.[5]
On 15 February 2018, Comedy Central was made available in HD for Fetch TV customers.[6]
Comedy Central programming is also available across Australia via the SVOD service Paramount+, which replaced 10 All Access on August 11, 2021.[7]
Programming
The network airs content from its U.S. counterpart, with 90% of the programming at launch coming from the ViacomCBS library, in addition to local productions - which initially is in short form.[2][4][8] Although Viacom have existing agreements with the Foxtel-owned The Comedy Channel, content is made available to both Comedy Central and The Comedy Channel at the same time.[2]
Original programming
- Trendy[9]
- These New South Whales
- The Mike Nolan Show
Acquired programming
Some programmes available include:
- @midnight[10]
- Another Period[11]
- Adam Devine's House Party[11]
- Alien News Desk
- American Dad!
- Archer
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force
- Are You Being Served
- Beavis and Butt-head
- Balls of Steel
- The Benny Hill Show
- The Big Bang Theory
- The Billy T James Show
- The Black Adder
- The Big Lez Show
- The Brak Show
- Broad City
- Bob's Burgers
- Bottom
- BoJack Horseman
- The Boondocks
- bro' Town
- Chappelle's Show
- Community
- Comedy Central Roast
- The Cleveland Show
- The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
- Digman!
- Drawn Together
- Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza
- Drunk History
- Everybody Hates Chris
- The Eric Andre Show
- Family Guy
- Facejacker
- Fonejacker
- Frasier
- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- Friday Night Dinner
- Friends
- Full House
- Futurama
- The Half Hour[10]
- Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
- Hogan's Heroes
- How I Met Your Mother
- Idiotsitter
- The Inbetweeners
- Inside Amy Schumer
- Impractical Jokers
- The King of Queens
- Key & Peele
- Live at the Apollo
- Malcolm in the Middle
- M*A*S*H
- The Middle
- The Movie Show
- Mr. Black
- My Name Is Earl
- Nathan for You
- The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore[10]
- Not Safe with Nikki Glaser
- The Office
- On The Buses
- Only Fools and Horses
- Regular Old Bogan
- Rick and Morty (Season 1–2)
- Robot Chicken
- Rude Tube
- Russell Howard's Good News
- Saul of the Mole Men
- Sassy the Sasquatch
- Saturday Night Live
- Sealab 2021
- The Simpsons
- Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
- South Park (shared with FOX8)
- Studio C
- SuperMansion
- Superstore
- Swift and Shift Couriers
- Seinfeld
- Space Ghost Coast to Coast
- Two and a Half Men
- Tosh.0
- Workaholics
- The Venture Bros.
- Young Sheldon
