After the surprise shutdown of the MTV News site earlier this week, Paramount has now largely cleaned house on the sites for several more of its cable channels, in a possible cost-cutting move.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the websites for Comedy Central, CMT, Yellowstone airer Paramount Network and TV Land direct users to the media group's Paramount+ streaming platform. On Monday, MTVnews.com was taken down, removing about 20 years of stories from the web.
A pop-up on the Comedy Central website states: “While 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 subscribe to Paramount+ to watch multiple seasons of Comedy Central shows.” Similar language appears on the CMT, Paramount Network and TV Land websites, as well as that of MTV (which was separate from MTVnews.com).
aramount said in a statement, “As part of broader website changes across Paramount, we've introduced more streamlined versions of our websites, driving fans to Paramount+ to watch their favorite shows.”
As noted by Late Nighterthe Comedy Central site cleanup in particular wipes out a vast trove of archival material from The daily show and other late-night series, along with clips from South Park, Key & Peele and workaholics, among many others. Some of this material is available on YouTube, but it is not as easily searchable or accessible as on the network page. (Oldest video on Daily show The YouTube channel, for example, is from 2016, while the show's history stretches back 20 years.)
On Paramount+, only its two most recent seasons The daily show they are available. The platform has a lot South Park tributes and the 1999 feature film Bigger, Long and Seamless, but the main stream of the show is on Max. Paramount+ has its full versions Key & Peele and workaholics.
As of press time, websites for Paramount's BET, Nickelodeon and VH1 were still active, while MTV.com offered some episodes and clips.
The site changes come after Paramount's co-CEOs — George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins — told employees at a town hall meeting Tuesday that they were embarking on a cost-cutting mission as the company's profits slumped. Paramount is seeking $500 million in reduced costs, which will mean layoffs for some employees. Cheeks also told the town hall that “We are looking at selling some of the assets owned by Paramount — in fact, we've already hired bankers to help us with that process — and we'll use the proceeds to help pay down debt and strengthen the our balance sheet”.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
