Among the first such case in U.S., where a show, made for mobile, has made it onto TV: Comedy Central will air a political parody show produced by MVNO Amp’d Mobile. The show, the animated series called “Lil’ Bush: Resident of the United States” will be co-produced with Amp’d and the show’s creator Donick Cary, a TV writer who has written for “Late Show with David Letterman” and “The Simpsons.” Comedy Central plans to air the half-hour show weekly beginning next summer during the popular 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. time slot, possibly right after “South Park” and before “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” MTV Networks, parent of Comedy Central, is a major investor in Amp’d, though it says its decision to air “Lil’ Bush” wasn’t influenced by MTV Networks’ ownership in it.
The show on Amp’d is only about five minutes long. Comedy Central will make future shows into two 11-minute episodes to fill the 30-minute TV show slot, with the rest of the time being filled with commercials.
Amp’d has ramped up its original content production efforts: the company has hired KC Armstrong, a former producer of “Howard Stern Show,” to host a reality-TV program for cellphones. It is also launching a 3D mobile game called “Homeland Security: Kim Jong Il Edition,” in which a U.S. spy will infiltrate North Korea and assassinate the leader in order to stop nuclear-weapons testing.
It has its own TV studios in its West LA office building, where Fox used to shoot “24.” It produces hundreds of short sports, comedy and reality show clips, which make up about 5% of its content but get about 30% of the usage, the story said.
The article also notes that Amp’d now has more than 50,000 subscribers.