After angering many users by unexpectedly shutting down their MTV News website, Paramount execs made another controversial move this week.
As The Hollywood Reporter first observed, the media conglomerate removed virtually all streamable content from the Comedy Central, MTV, CMT, and TV Land websites this morning.
Users who are looking to stream the most popular shows from those sites are now redirected to a website for Paramount+.
“While episodes of most Comedy Central series are no longer available on this website, you can watch Comedy Central through your TV provider,” reads a message received by users.
“You can also sign up for Paramount+ to watch many seasons of Comedy Central shows.”
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The company explained the decision in a press release that reads in part:
“As part of broader website changes across Paramount, we have introduced more streamlined versions of our sites, driving fans to Paramount+ to watch their favorite shows.”
Of course, as is usually the case with this sort of retooling, a great deal of content was jettisoned, rather than being migrated to the new site.
Only the two most recent seasons of The Daily Show are available on Paramount+, meaning that most of the show’s run is no longer available online at all.
As LateNighter points out, many episodes of the popular “fake news” show are available on YouTube, but the oldest installment is from 2016.
Since The Daily Show premiered on Comedy Central back in 1996, that means the vast majority of episodes — many of which are of historical interest, especially in an election year — are no longer available. Anywhere.
The news is similarly bleak for fans of South Park.
Paramount boasts only a handful of recent South Park specials and the 1999 feature film, Bigger, Longer, and Uncut.
The rest of the show’s 26-season run can only be accessed by subscription via Max.
That’s better than the situation with Key & Peele and Workaholics, as large segments of both shows are now only accessible on YouTube, where they can be rather difficult to find.
Today’s sad news doesn’t come as a total shock, as Paramount’s co-CEOs recently informed shareholders that the company is looking to cut $500 million in costs in response to recent profit losses.
Hosting all that free content across multiple platforms was expensive, and despite today’s grumblings, it will likely turn out to be a savvy move for the company.
But the cuts point to a disturbing trend in our all-digital media landscape.
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In a world where very few consumers own any sort of physical media, CEOs essentially decide what we’re allowed to watch.
When fans notice that a show or movie has disappeared from Netflix or Disney+, they might complain on social media, but very few follow through on threats to cancel their subscriptions.
This practice has been going on for so long that the powers that be now have enough data to support their theory that the boycott threats are mostly empty.
Which is how we end up with a situation where any one of these guys can wipe decades’ worth of content with a snap of their fingers, like some sort of Armani-clad Thanos.
It’s a sad situation — but most consumers probably feel that there’s little they can do about it. And as fewer shows receive physical releases of any kind, they may be right.
What do you think, TV fanatics? Is the future of streaming as dismal as it seems?
Hit the comments section below to share your thoughts.
Tyler Johnson is an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic and the other Mediavine O&O sites. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, cooking, and, of course, watching TV. You can Follow him on X and email him here at TV Fanatic.