More than a decade ago, Mort Marcus’ Debmar Studios made waves with its move to pick up broadcast syndication rights to raunchy Comedy Central series South Park. The gamble paid off, with South Park remaining a part of the portfolio of Marcus and Ira Bernstein’s Lionsgate-owned Debmar-Mercury.
Now the production-distribution company has taken to the market another signature Comedy Central program, Tosh.0, landing a deal with the Fox Television Stations. Under the barter pact, Daniel Tosh’s Web-driven clip/sketch comedy will debut on Fox stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Houston, Charlotte and Minneapolis.
“We’re excited to have the Fox Television Stations on board as the anchor broadcast group and to once again team with our South Park partners at Comedy Central on another absurd, incredibly ingenious series that has such a loyal fan base,” said Marcus and Bernstein. “Daniel Tosh is one of the funniest and most talented comedians on television today, and we believe his highly rated ‘Tosh.0’ will provide the perfect companion to sitcoms.”
More than 120 episodes will be available for syndication to broadcast stations nationally as a late-night strip or stacked on weekends. “I love the scheduling flexibility this deal brings,” said Frank Cicha, SVP Programming, Fox TV Stations.
Added Tosh, “This is a huge win for America. It is exciting to know that people who can’t afford cable or the Internet will finally be able to laugh with us.”
Tosh.0, which launched on Comedy Central in June 2009, ranked as the No. 1 comedy series on all of television on Tuesday nights this past fall among young men. It averages 2.1 million total viewers and a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49.
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