In an enormous cultural loss reminiscent of the degaussed tapes incidents in the early days of television, Paramount Global has removed the online archives to ComedyCentral.com, TVLand.com, MTVNews.com, and CMT.com from public access.
The move takes away a quarter century or more of online content. It is unclear if the content has been saved for future use.
In a statement, a Paramount Global spokesperson said the takedowns came as part of a broader website strategy across Paramount. “We have introduced more streamlined versions of our sites, driving fans to Paramount+ to watch their favorite shows.”
The writers, editors and videographers on the sites were apparently given no warning of the changes, sparking outrage that their work has now vanished.
Michael Alex, part of the team that launched MTV News in 1996, posted to Facebook about the move. “It’s a huge loss and a waste of something extremely valuable to anyone who cares about the history of great music,” he wrote.
The comedycentral.com website hosted clips from all episodes of The Daily Show since 1999, and bits of Stephen Colbert’s The Colbert Report, among other content.
A notice on Comedy Central’s 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 sign up for Paramount+ to watch many seasons of Comedy Central shows.” A similar notice appears on TVLand.com.
The website SavingCountryMusic.com headlined its story on the takedowns: CMT & MTV’s Eradication of Editorial Content is a Catastrophe.
Bruce Haring
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