“Tom Green is the perfect personality for our network,” said ManiaTV! CEO and founder, Drew Massey. “There isn’t a more ideal entertainer with whom we wanted to launch the first live TV talk show format on the internet. Tom’s edgy, non-conformist, unique approach to comedy epitomizes the ManiaTV! brand and we’re very excited to be working with him on such an intimate and long-term basis.” The Tom Green Live show will include celebrity interviews, live viewer call-ins, and Tom’s trademark man-on-the-street video segments. The show will set the stage for future programming on ManiaTV! intended to shatter traditional TV programming limitations.
“I’ve always considered myself a media pioneer, and live television over the internet is the next frontier for me,” explained Tom. “Of course, ManiaTV! didn’t know what the hell they were doing when they agreed to give me complete creative control over my show and they’ll no doubt regret it 5 minutes into the first airing. I’m certainly looking forward to that”.
The deal was brokered by Massey, Lewis Henderson of William Morris and Howard Lapides and Jackie Stern of The Core. “Tom has always been the leader in breakthrough interactive comedy, it’s always fun being first, “ Lapides said. Richard Ayoub, ManiaTV!’s vice president of programming said, “There will be no micromanaging from me or any other executive, this is the first time in Hollywood history that a celebrity is being given complete and total creative control.”
About ManiaTV!
The Tom Green Live show is the first of a number of new offerings on www.ManiaTV.com , according to the network. In addition to the live talk show the company will be launching a platform for users to create their very own TV channels on the internet and broadcast to the world for free. Channel “producers” will then compete for a chance for fame and fortune, ultimately seeing their channel aired live on the ManiaTV! network. Future offerings also include a user-generated program comprised of videos submitted by viewers, and additional celebrity-hosted programming.
ManiaTV!, launched in September 2004, is the world’s first internet television network, delivering pop-culture entertainment programming to the youth and young adult broadband markets. Shows are hosted live by ManiaTV!’s own CJs (Cyber Jockeys). The network currently serves more than 3 million viewers each month and has secured significant investment from some of the leading venture capital firms in the country, including Benchmark Capital, Intel Capital, and Centennial Ventures.
