The new CC
Stand-Up app from Comedy Central announces itself as a new cable channel when you open it on your iPhone or iPad. And that is the way the network is treating this new app -- as a combination of an
interactive video vault of over 700 comedians and as a platform that feels very much like a live TV channel. Video is playing just about everywhere in this app. Even as the user navigates through
layers and layers of on-demand video there is usually a video box in one of the corners streaming media.
Erik Flanagan, EVP multiplatform strategy and development, Viacom Entertainment
Group, states in the company's rollout announcement: “At its simplest, CC: Stand-Up is a digitally distributed, pure stand-up channel, in which fans can immerse themselves for hours with just
one touch.”
The app is also a deep archive of routines recorded by Comedy Central over its many years of programming. The app allows the comedy enthusiast to drill into thematically organized
clips and to use an interactive map of comedians that help surface recommendations for similar content. This “Six Degrees of Stand-Up” map employs recommendation algorithms to help users
find new comedians based on their current tastes.
Comedy Central argues that standup comedy is one of the ways in which young men especially connect with one another, and has become a kind
of social currency. And so the app has a range of built-in social-sharing tools that allow the user to pass along curated playlists and videos through their Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The
CC Stand-Up app is free to users and fully sponsored by launch partner Axe Face. The brand has persistent presence throughout the app and has created a “Laugh Your Face Off” playlist as
well.
The app is being heavily promoted on Comedy Central programming and at its Web site.