Comedy Central chops digital division

Viacom-owned Comedy Central has closed its digital department in favour of a centralised structure co-lead by programming chief David Bernath.

The network said it was taking the move because “fans don’t use the word ‘digital’ to talk about content”.

This comes after Kent Alterman was promoted to president, content development and original programming for Comedy Central.

The new internal structure will see Bernath, Comedy Central’s executive VP, programming and multiplatform strategy, now in charge of all programming and chief marketing officer Walter Levitt responsible for brand outreach across all platforms.

Bernath will now oversee programming across the linear TV channel, comedycentral.com, VoD, SVoD, mobile and new emerging platforms; while Levitt will run a new ‘fan-engagement’ team.

Both will continue to report into Comedy Central president Michele Ganeless.

The restructure also sees Comedy Central digital media exec Steve Grimes become senior VP, multiplatform strategy and president, multiplatform strategy and development for the Viacom Entertainment Group.

Comedy Central attributes the new structure to the “holistic” approach it took to the launch of summer series Drunk History, which drew seven million samples views before its linear premiere.

“We’ve dismantled the department formerly known as ‘digital’ to create an organisation that better serves our fans and advertisers,” said Ganeless.