YouTube announces launch of new content channels, creating fresh new TV for your computer

Usually, a press release or announcement late on a Friday is meant to sneak something sinister past the press and your attention.

This is the opposite of that.

YouTube announced last night that it’ll launch several brand-new channels full of original entertainment — as the company said: “These channels will have something for everyone, whether you’re a mom, a comedy fan, a sports nut, a music lover or a pop-culture maven.”

So, comedy fans. Guess what you have to look forward to over the next few months?

  • My Damn Channel Live
  • The Nerdist Channel
  • The Onion’s Onion Broadcasting Company
  • Walter Latham’s “Kings of Comedy”
  • Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls at the Party
  • The Comedy Shaq Network

You can find the full list of new YouTube entertainment channels here.

Rob Barnett, My Damn Channel’s CEO (and my comedy partner), says My Damn Channel Live will debut in February 2012 as a half-hour hosted weekly comedy show that will include the site’s original videos and series, as well as a daily 10-minute interactive show. “We’ll bring you stars you love and new talent, too,” Barnett said.

Chris Hardwick, aka Nerdist.com, had this to say about his new YouTube channel: “It has been my continuing goal with Nerdist Industries to create nerd-based content that I would want to consume myself, were I not making it. Sort of a “Nerd FUBU”, if you will. This channel will give us the opportunity to create programming that would normally be crushed by the constraints of television (um, I still love and work in you, TV!). While we will certainly be producing more traditional long-form content, TV just doesn’t have a place for pieces from :30 to 7 min. Also, if you’ve ever gone through television development you know that it is a LONG process where a lot of the original creator’s voice usually gets lost along the way. This will be a perfect platform for maintaining the integrity of the artists’ vision while being able to turn things around efficiently to preserve freshness, like hot bread for your eyes.”

 

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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