MTV Networks will cut back its free-to-air offer in Germany: From 1 January 2009, NICK and Comedy Central will be combined into a single channel. So far, both services have been broadcasting 24 hours per day.





On the shared slot, NICK will show children's series including "SpongeBob", "Dora" and "Avatar" between 6 and 20.15 CET while Comedy Central will screen entertainment series and shows such as "South Park", "Futurama" and "'The Daily Show: Global Edition" in the evening. To introduce viewers to the new concept, NICK will take over Comedy Central's evening programmes from 15 December.

"The experience shows us that NICK has tremendous success among its young target group during daytime while Comedy Central is particularly popular with its German audience in the evening. Accordingly, we have decided to combine the strengths of both brands on a joint distribution platform from which both viewers and advertisers will benefit", said Dan Ligtvoet, managing director of MTV Networks North. "With this move, we centralise the brand experience of our free-TV offer while at the same time we prepare ourselves for the highly specialised market of the digital future."

Through the combination, which will affect both analogue and digital distribution, NICK and Comedy Central will reach almost 33 million households from January 2009, corresponding with 92 per cent of German TV households. Almost 1.3 million households will be able to see Comedy Central for the first time while NICK will gain more than 500,000 new households.