Comedy Central Poland picks up US series

Comedy Central Poland has picked up a number of hit US acquisitions including Californication, The Sarah Silverman Show and My Name is Earl.

The Viacom-owned thematic broadcaster inked deals with CBS Paramount International Television for David Duchovny’s adult comedy Californication, which airs on Showtime in the US, with Twentieth Century Fox International for Jason Lee  fronted sitcom My Name is Earl. It also picked up The Sarah Silverman Show, the Curb Your Enthusiasm style sitcom from the eponymous comedian, which airs on US sister channel Comedy Central.

Miki Chojnacka-Mascianica, VP, content, emerging markets, told TBIvision that it was essential to acquire such hits to ward off competition from rival broadcasters such as Fox Live and ITI’s TVN7, which are starting to air more US series.

The new series are set to launch from October.

"We’re trying to launch one of these new shows each month. Summer is also good for us because in the autumn we have to compete with the terrestrial channels," she said.

Comedy Central Poland also has exclusive rights to The Office: American Workplace, the Steve Carrell fronted NBC remake of the BBC series and also airs BBC Worldwide’s My Family and Disney’s Scrubs.

The channel has a number of local productions including Byeo Sobie Porno (Badly Dubbed Porn), which sees old adult movies dubbed with new voiceovers from local comedians. It also plans to launch Badly Dubbed Soaps next year, a similar format, taking content from old soaps and novelas.