Following the unexpected shutdown of the MTV News website earlier this week, Paramount has now largely scrubbed the sites of several other of its cable channels, in a potential bid to cut costs.
Starting Wednesday afternoon, the Comedy Central, CMT, Yellow stone Broadcasters Paramount Network and TV Land instead directed users to the media conglomerate’s streaming platform Paramount+. On Monday, MTVnews.com was taken down, removing about 20 years of stories from the web.
A pop-up on the Comedy Central site states: “Although episodes of most Comedy Central series are no longer available on this website, you can watch Comedy Central through your TV provider. You can also sign up for Paramount+ to watch many seasons of Comedy Central shows. Similar language appears on the CMT, Paramount Network, and TV Land sites, as well as that of MTV (which was separate from MTVnews.com).
Paramount said in a statement: “As part of broader changes to the Paramount website, we have introduced more streamlined versions of our sites, driving fans to Paramount+ to watch their favorite shows. »
As noted Late at nightthe cleanup of the Comedy Central site in particular erases a huge amount of archival material from The daily show and other late-night series, as well as clips from South Park, Key and Peele And Workaholics, among many others. Some of this material is available on YouTube, but it is not as easily searchable or accessible as it was on the network’s page. (The oldest video in the Daily show The YouTube channel, for example, dates from 2016, while the history of the series dates back 20 years before.)
On Paramount+, only the two most recent seasons of The daily show are available. The platform has several South Park specials and the 1999 feature film Bigger, longer and uncut, but the show’s main streaming home is on Max. Paramount+ offers the complete series of Key and Peele And Workaholics.
At the time of publication, BET, Nickelodeon and Paramount’s VH1 sites were still active, while MTV.com had a few episodes and clips.
The website changes follow Paramount co-CEOs — George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins — telling employees at a town hall meeting Tuesday that they were embarking on a cost-cutting mission as the company’s profits had fallen. Paramount is looking to cut costs by $500 million, which will result in laying off some employees. Cheeks also told the town hall: “We are considering selling some assets owned by Paramount – in fact, we have already hired bankers to help us with this process – and we will use the proceeds from the sale to help pay down debt and strengthen our balance sheet.
