Observers fear "the end of Comedy Central"

The New York Times

The Viacom-CBS merger has led to cost-cutting and key staff departures that seem likely to hurt Comedy Central in the long run. "In the last six months, many of Comedy Central’s senior executives have been pushed out. In the last week of April, most of the network’s talent and development team was let go, too," reports John Koblin, adding: "In recent months the network has started to shift its focus away from scripted programs like Inside Amy Schumer and Broad City toward unscripted fare that was cheaper to produce, according to three people with knowledge of the strategy." Peter Principato, the chief executive of Artists First, whose clients include Awkwafina and Jordan Peele, says the cuts look misguided. “That makes it feel like the end of Comedy Central,” he said. Longtime Comedy Central president Kent Alterman's ouster last November was also seen as a major blow to the cable network after he had championed many of its biggest and most influential hits. “Kent was kind of the mentor and really the tastemaker there,” said Anthony Jeselnik, whose Comedy Central talk show Good Talk was canceled last month. As Koblin notes, roughly 20 people of a talent and development team consisting of 30 people were shown the door. “To take out two-thirds of a department without an exit strategy seemed a little abrupt,” said Principato. “And not very strategic.” ViacomCBS executives, however, feel the changes were necessary. “Merging organizations is a difficult process, and doing so within a global pandemic makes it more complicated,” said Chris McCarthy, who now heads ViacomCBS channels Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, TV Land and CMT, in a statement. “That said, it’s necessary to move from a cable-centric structure to a fully integrated organization with creative, cultural and commercial hits at the center of everything we do.”