Comedy Central Sets Up Enterprises Division

NEW YORK: Comedy Central Enterprises is a new business division that will focus on building the Comedy Central brand through consumer products, home video, CDs, digital downloads, publishing and live tours.

Comedy Central Enterprises will bring together consumer products, home entertainment, records, live entertainment and publishing, which were previously independent segments, all under one banner. The newly formed group will be led by Mitch Fried as the executive VP of Comedy Central Enterprises. Fried moves from the role of senior VP of Comedy Central Live Entertainment. He will report to Michele Ganeless, the president of Comedy Central. Steve Raizes and Jack Vaughn, the VPs of the new division who will be charged with developing and maximizing the synergistic elements, report to Fried.

“In the increasingly fractured world of content distribution, success today means reaching fans everywhere,” said Ganeless. “The formation of Comedy Central Enterprises strengthens our relationship with our fans. It’s another example of the kind of extension that keeps Comedy Central the number one brand in comedy. Mitch Fried is an experienced and innovative executive with a long history at Comedy Central. Respected and well-liked throughout the industry, he knows the brand intimately and is the perfect person to spearhead our efforts under the new Enterprises banner.”

“By consolidating these brand extensions into a single business division with a common goal, we are in a better position to grow and strengthen the brand and provide our fans with what they want most, easily-accessible, high-quality comedy, both on screens and off,” added Fried. “Forming the Enterprises division also provides benefits to our talent partners by offering them massive exposure to our fans and a multitude of opportunities and points of distribution to increase their own following and generate revenue by getting their content in front of an ever-widening consumer base.”