NEW YORK, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- COMEDY CENTRAL had a third quarter for its history books, recording double-digit gains across all day parts and all key demographics, leading to the most-watched and highest-rated third quarter in the network's history.  The strong third quarter performance was exemplified among young men who made COMEDY CENTRAL the #1 cable network in Prime among Men 18-24 and the #2 network in Prime among Men 18-34, behind ESPN.  COMEDY CENTRAL's record-breaking run extended off the linear channel to COMEDY CENTRAL Digital, the #1 humor destination on the Web, which is on pace to record its best quarter ever with an average monthly audience of over 9 million Unique Visitors.

Led by the break-out of "Tosh.0," the most-watched series in all of television on Wednesday nights with Men 18-34 and Men 18-24, COMEDY CENTRAL recorded its most-watched third quarter in Prime in the network's history with an average of one million total viewers, along with its highest-rated third quarter in Prime among P18-49 (up +22% vs. 3Q '09), P18-34 (up +33%), M18-34 (up +35%) and M25-34 (up +43%).

In late night, the indomitable pairing of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report," both of which had their most-watched third quarters ever among total viewers and highest-rated quarters ever among P18-49, led COMEDY CENTRAL to its most-watched third quarter in Late Night in COMEDY CENTRAL's history with an average of one million total viewers and its highest-rated third quarter in Late Night among P18-49 (up +12%), P18-34 (up +18%), M18-34 (up +17%), M18-24 (up +24%) and M25-34 ( up +12%).  For the quarter, "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" were the Top 2 most-watched late night talk shows with P18-34, M18-34 and M18-24.

To complete the trifecta, COMEDY CENTRAL also recorded its most-watched third quarter in Total Day in its history with an average of 600,000 total viewers and its highest-rated third quarter in Total Day in the channel's history among P18-49 (up +17), P18-34 (up +25%), M18-34 (up +26%, M18-24 (up +23%) and M25-34 (up +28%).

With an average monthly audience of over 9 million Unique Visitors, the third quarter is pacing to be the best quarter ever for COMEDY CENTRAL Digital, building on last quarter's record-breaking performance.  Versus 3Q 2009, the average monthly audience is up +17%.  The tremendous success of COMEDY CENTRAL Digital, which continues its dominance as the #1 Humor Destination on the Web, has been fueled by a record-breaking quarter for comedycentral.com, where users can't get enough of cross-platform hit "Tosh.0," the return of "Futurama," and "The COMEDY CENTRAL Roast of David Hasselhoff," a record-breaking quarter for ColbertNation.com and the continued success of TheDailyShow.com. (Source: comScore Media Metrix through Aug '10)

COMEDY CENTRAL is poised to ride the momentum of its record-breaking 3rd Quarter with new seasons of "South Park" and "Ugly Americans" (premiering October 6); the series premiere of "Nick Swardson's Pretend Time" (October 12); the return of the network's Autism awareness benefit, "Night of Too Many Stars" (October 21); and continuing "Indecision 2010" coverage of the crucial midterm elections by both "The Daily Show," which will broadcast a week of shows from Washington, D.C. (October 25-28), and "The Colbert Report," each of which will air live, election night specials.

Highlights from COMEDY CENTRAL's historic 3rd Quarter include:

"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report"

• "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" had its most-watched third quarter ever with an average of 2.1 million total viewers (up +4% vs. 3Q '09) and had its highest-rated third quarter ever among P18-49 (up +4%), P18-34 (up +16%), M18-34 (up +15%) and M18-24 (up +18%).
• "The Colbert Report" had its most-watched third quarter ever with an average of 1.5 million total viewers (up +6% vs. 3Q '09) and its highest-rated third quarter ever among P18-49 (up +8%).
• For the third quarter, "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" were the Top 2 most-watched late night talk shows with P18-34, M18-34 and M18-24.

"Tosh.0"

• The summer season of "Tosh.0" was the series' most-watched and highest-rated season ever among total viewers, P18-49, P18-34, M18-34 and M18-24.
• "Tosh.0" was the most-watched series in all of television in Wednesday Prime with M18-34 and M18-24 and the most-watched series in cable in Wednesday Prime with P18-34.
• Vs. last summer season, P18-49 ratings were up +205%, P18-34 were up +218%, M18-34 were up +215% and M18-24 were up +213%.  Total viewership grew by +164%.
• Over the course of the summer season, "Tosh.0" is averaging 2.7 million total viewers and a 1.8 P18-49 rating, 2.7 P18-34 rating, 3.5 M18-34 rating and 3.3 M18-24 rating.

"Futurama"

• In its timeslot, "Futurama" was the most-watched show in all of television with M18-34, the second most-watched show in all of television with M18-24, behind only "The Jersey Shore," and the third most-watched show in cable with P18-49.
• "Futurama" experienced triple-digit growth in timeslot vs. YAGO levels with P18-49 up +223%, M18-34 up +294%, M18-24 up +364% and M25-34 up +242%.
• During the third quarter "Futurama" averaged 2.6 million total viewers and a 1.6 P18-49 rating, 2.3 P18-34 rating, 3.1 M18-34 rating and 3.4 M18-24 rating.

"The COMEDY CENTRAL Roast of David Hasselhoff"

• Drew 3.9 million total viewers and 2.8 million P18-49 viewers
• Was #1 cable show of the night with Adults and #1 in all of TV with M18-34
• Vs. last year's Roast (Joan Rivers), Hasselhoff saw a ratings gain of +41% among P18-49 and +73% among M18-34 and saw viewership increase by +26% among total viewers and +39% with P18-49 viewers

COMEDY CENTRAL Prime (Mon-Sun 7:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.)

• Most-watched third quarter in Prime in COMEDY CENTRAL's history with an average of one million total viewers and the highest-rated third quarter in Prime in the channel's history among P18-49, P18-34, M18-34 and M25-34.
  • 1.0 million total viewers (P2+), up +14% vs. 3Q09
  • 0.55 P18-49 rating (up +22%)
  • 617,000 P18-49 viewers (up +22%)
  • 0.72 P18-34 rating (up +33%)
  • 0.93 M18-34 rating (up +35%)
  • 1.03 M18-24 rating (up +27%)
  • 0.86 M25-34 rating (up +43%)

COMEDY CENTRAL Late Night (Mon-Sun 11:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.)

• Most-watched third quarter in Late Night in COMEDY CENTRAL's history with an average of one million total viewers and the highest-rated third quarter in Late Night in the channel's history among P18-49, P18-34, M18-34, M18-24 and M25-34.
  • 1.0 million total viewers (P2+), up +9% vs. 3Q 2009
  • 625,000 P18-49 viewers (up +12%)
  • 0.56 P18-49 rating (up +12%)
  • 0.73 P18-34 rating (up +18%)
  • 0.96 M18-34 rating (up +17%)
  • 1.17 M18-24 rating (up +24%)
  • 0.82 M25-34 rating (up +12%)

COMEDY CENTRAL Total Day

• Most-watched third quarter in Total Day in COMEDY CENTRAL's history with an average of 600,000 total viewers and the highest-rated third quarter in Total Day in the channel's history among P18-49, P18-34, M18-34, M18-24 and M25-34.
  • 600,000 total viewers (P2+), up +12% vs. 3Q09
  • 382,000 P18-49 viewers (up +17%)
  • 0.34 P18-49 rating (up +17%)
  • 0.45 P18-34 rating (up +25%)
  • 0.59 M18-34 rating (up +26%)
  • 0.69 M18-24 rating (up +23%)
  • 0.51 M25-34 rating (up +28%)

Source: Nielsen Median Research, 6/28/10-9/26/10, most current data (MC available thru 9/12)

COMEDY CENTRAL, the only all-comedy network, currently is seen in more than 98 million homes nationwide.  COMEDY CENTRAL is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned division of Viacom Inc.'s (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) MTV Networks.  COMEDY CENTRAL's Internet address is www.comedycentral.com.  For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs visit Press Central, COMEDY CENTRAL's press Web site, at www.comedycentral.com/press.

SOURCE COMEDY CENTRAL Corporate Communications