Comedy Central’s Tosh.0 may just be the first television show to make money off of stupid videos on the internet. Launched in 2009, the show has the biggest 18-30 yr. old male market of any television show, and at nearly 4 million viewers an episode, Tosh is beating out Comedy Central mainstays such as Stephen Colbert and John Stewart.
Tosh runs his show like many other comedy shows, showing funny videos and pictures from the internet and commenting on them with wisecracks and racy humour. What sets his show apart though is his web redemption award. Each episode Tosh presents viewers with an embarrassing video from the internet then brings the protagonist onto the show. Typically there is a pseudo-interview followed with the redemption moment – which supposedly absolves the person from the embarrassment they made in their video. This usually isn’t the case as Tosh and his biting wit just ends up making the person look even worse.
Perhaps even more interesting then the web redemption is the synergy between the internet and television. Taking funny videos from the internet which would typically be innocuous and at the most receive a lot of views and comments, and turning it into a television event, equaling big profit for a medium which has been dying for the past few years.