Paramount Comedy 1

Infobox TV channel
name = Paramount Comedy 1
logofile =
logoalt = Paramount Comedy logo
launch = 1 November 1995
share = 0.4% (0.2% for +1)
share as of = March 2008
share source = [http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/monthreports.cfm?report=monthgmulti]
owner = Paramount UK Partnership
(MTV Networks Europe/BSkyB)
picture format = 4:3, 576i (SDTV)
former names = The Paramount Channel
(until September 1st 1997)
Paramount Comedy Channel
(until July 2002)
Paramount Comedy
(until January 2005)
sister names = Paramount Comedy 2
timeshift names = Paramount Comedy +1
web = [http://www.paramountcomedy.com/ www.paramountcomedy.com]
terr avail = Via Top Up TV Anytime sat serv 1 = Sky Digital
sat chan 1 = Channel 126
Channel 127 (+1)
cable serv 1 = Virgin Media
cable chan 1 = Channel 132
Channel 133 (+1)| cable serv 2 = UPC Ireland
cable chan 2 = Channel 127
adsl serv 1 = Tiscali TV
adsl chan 1 = Channel 25

Paramount Comedy 1 is a television channel shown in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, available through digital satellite (Sky Digital), IPTV (Tiscali TV) and cable (Virgin Media, NTL Ireland). As a joint venutre between Paramount Pictures (part of the Viacom portfolio) and BSkyB. The channel's programming concentrates solely on comedy. However, it was not the first all-comedy channel in the UK; that distinction goes to The Comedy Channel, which had closed some years earlier.

History

The original schedule was a mixture of comedy and drama, including such eclectic offerings as "Beauty and the Beast", several anime productions acquired from Manga Entertainment, and authentic Paramount archive programming like "The Magician". The drama shows were later dropped and the schedule became 100% comedy, hence the change of name to the "Paramount Comedy Channel" in early 1997. The 'Channel' part of the name was dropped on 1 July 2002.

It originally aired every evening after Nickelodeon UK's closing at 7pm until around 4am. The introduction of Sky Digital brought greater space for channels on the network and allowed it to become a channel independent of Nickelodeon.

Other channels

After no longer having to time-share with Nickelodeon, the station increased its broadcasting hours, and was joined by Paramount Comedy 2 on 1 September 2003.

Paramount Comedy 1 +1, (a time-shift channel - exactly the same as Paramount Comedy, but 1 hour behind) was launched on Sky Digital channel 127, on 30 August 2005 and Virgin Media channel 133.

Another time-shift channel, Paramount Comedy 2 +1, was launched on Sky Digital channel 200, on 5 November 2007.

The current channel listings are:
* Paramount Comedy 1 on Sky Digital channel 126, Virgin Media channel 132 and Tiscali TV channel 25.
* Paramount Comedy 1 +1 on Sky Digital channel 127 and Virgin Media channel 133.
* Paramount Comedy 2 on Sky Digital channel 128, Virgin Media channel 134 and Tiscali TV channel 27.
* Paramount Comedy 2 +1 on Sky Digital channel 160.

hows on Paramount Comedy

Paramount Comedy is well known for bringing popular American shows to the UK, such as "Everybody Loves Raymond", "Frasier", "Scrubs", "King of Queens", "Two and a Half Men" and "Everybody Hates Chris". It also shows cult comedy show "South Park" and in the past aired others such as "Trailer Park Boys", "Happy Tree Friends", "Drawn Together" and "Seinfeld."

The channel prides itself on its stand up content with 40% of all programming on Paramount Comedy 1 being stand up with talent such as Lee Evans, Jack Dee and Al Murray. This wide array of programming (which is also reflected in live events supported by the channel: Edinburgh and Beyond, Comedy on Tap and Paramount Comedy Festival, Brighton) [Official Paramount Comedy website [http://www.paramountcomedy.com/live%2Dgigs/] ] attracted Magners Irish Cider as a sponsor of all stand up content on Paramount Comedy 1 and their live events.

Paramount Comedy also prides itself on supporting new comedy talent. The channel was instrumental in the early careers of comedic talent such as Sacha Baron Cohen, Dom Joly, Matt Lucas and David Walliams.More recently the channel has been involved in commission a strand called [http://www.paramountcomedy.com/shortcuts Shotcuts] , an on-air and online venture to promote new comedic talent.

In the past it has frequently had a large back catalogue of Channel 4 comedies in its chedule, such as "Father Ted, Spaced, Drop the Dead Donkey" and "", and some BBC classics such as "The Young Ones", "Monty Pythons Flying Circus" and "Not the Nine O'Clock News".

Paramount Comedy currently shows new episodes of "Two and a Half Men, Scrubs, Stacked", "Suburban Shootout" and "South Park".

Marathons

The channel frequently airs weekend marathons which consist of one or two shows being on-air for the majority of the day. The marathons often contain loose themes and are on occasion sponsored, such as the "He Ain't Funny, He's My Brother" marathon which ran on the night of 24 November 2007. This night consisted of episodes from shows with a strong brother relationship theme and was sponsored by the film The Darjeeling Limited to promote its nationwide release.

See also

*Paramount Comedy 2
*List Of Programmes Broadcast By Paramount Comedy

References

External links

* [http://www.paramountcomedy.com/ Official site.]
* [http://www.mindthezap.tv/channels/185-today.html "Paramount Comedy" - UK TV Listings and Schedules]