Paramount Removes Decades’ worth of TV Clips from the Internet

Creators and fans alike have learned all too well what it feels like to suddenly see an old show or movie that was available on streaming disappear, even though we’ve been sold on the idea of ​​endless choice and endless libraries at our fingertips.

But now, even older examples of television history disappear in the blink of an eye. This week, Paramount quietly removed much of the content hosted on several of its cable channels, including Comedy Central, Paramount Network, TV Land and CMT, all as of Wednesday afternoon. On Monday, MTVNews.com was completely taken down from the web, removing years of articles, columns and music news articles.

As a result, you can no longer find full episodes or clips of classic Comedy Central late night shows like “The Colbert Report,” “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore” and “The Opposition with Jordan Klepper” available for online streaming. Full episodes of the sketch comedy show “Key & Peele” have also disappeared, and even old episodes of “The Daily Show” from before 2016 cannot be found. The LateNighter blog was the first to notice that the websites had been wiped clean.

YouTube offers some answers, but finding specific clips, let alone full episodes, can be more of a challenge. Instead, pop-ups appear on the websites of each of the above-mentioned cable channels stating: “Although episodes of most Comedy Central series are no longer available on this website, you can watch Comedy Central through your television provider. You can also sign up for Paramount+ to watch multiple seasons of Comedy Central shows.”

A representative for Paramount did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but told THR: “As part of broader changes to Paramount sites, we have rolled out streamlined versions of our sites, directing fans to Paramount+ to watch their favorite shows. “

For now, however, many of these series are not currently available on Paramount+, such as “The Colbert Report” and “The Nightly Show.” Even “The Daily Show” only has the latest two seasons available, covering 2024 and 2023, despite the show’s decades-long history. Clips of “South Park” were once hosted on Comedy Central’s website, but full episodes could only be watched via Max, not Paramount+.

Probable reason? Cost cutting. At this week’s town hall, Paramount’s “Office of the CEO,” which includes co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins, expressed plans to save $500 million to prevent earnings declines and one day make Paramount+ profitable. The company has $12 billion in debt to pay off, and David Ellison’s Skydance won’t show up to save the day.

It’s unclear if or when any or all of these shows will be able to move to other streaming locations. It’s not easy to accommodate years of “The Daily Show” and “Colbert,” especially if the current ones and individual old episodes are not well-watched. Furthermore, it is unlikely that such programs would be licensed to other purchasers. We wouldn’t be surprised to see some shows end up on Paramount’s free streamer Pluto TV, much like HBO’s “Westworld” is currently permanently available on Warner Bros.’ FAST channels. Discovery.

There’s also no word on whether Nickelodeon, BET or VH1’s sites could suffer a similar fate. However, BET and VH1 have already been involved in trade talks, so what happens to these sites and their content may one day be in different hands.

The removal of MTVNews.com is particularly painful because there is no archive of the news articles that were stored there and are even less likely to see the light of day again.

As former MTV News editor Patrick Hosken puts it, it really stinks: “So it no longer exists. Eight years of my life have gone by without a trace. All because it didn’t fit the brief of certain executives. Annoying is an understatement.”