KEY POINTS:
It's set to launch on April Fool's Day but we promise it's no joke - Comedy Central is coming to New Zealand.
Home to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, South Park and more, the channel is set to join MTV's stable of channels on the Sky Digital network.
MTV network general manager Chris Keely said they had big plans for the
channel and was talking to a range of distributors to create a custom-made schedule for New Zealand viewers.
Free-to-air channel C4 currently screens several Comedy Central series,
including the flagship series The Daily Show.
Keely said the network was in negotiations with C4's parent company TV
Works, but Comedy Central would have first dibs on all original content.
"Globally we will premiere the bulk of our Comedy Central product on
our Comedy Central-branded channel," he said.
He also said the network planned to turn around international content as fast as possible, via satellite or cyber feed.
"We promise we will put them to air as quick as is humanly possible ... We should have access almost simultaneously with the United States."
Plans are in place to develop local content for the channel, but Keely said the network was taking a prudent approach given the current economic climate.
