My Damn Channel, the Funny Or Die Clone
When a company so blatantly rips off a competitor that it references it in its splashy launch story by the Associated Press and spoofs it on its own site — well, you gotta give them credit for owning up to it. My Damn Channel, which launches today, is clearly built in the image of Funny Or Die — the Sequoia Capital-funded, Will Ferrell-fronted web comedy site (play the video below).
With similar rhetoric to the recently announced 60Frames, the site promises to bring the creative freedom of internet video to established entertainers. It is led by former MTV and CBS Radio executive Rob Barnett with funding from Okapi Venture Capital, and will feature videos from comedian Harry Shearer, filmmaker David Wain, and music producer Don Was.
Interestingly, My Damn Channel appears to have waltzed in the door without any proven video to its name and “already signed a distribution deal with YouTube,” according to the AP. We haven’t been able to find the company’s content on YouTube yet. Its own site was fraught with error messages when we checked it out late Monday/early Tuesday. (Coincidentally, we had complained about the quality of the Funny Or Die site when it launched too.)
Says the about page (though again, we couldn’t get the linked video to load),
My Damn Channel gives its artists 100% creative control to develop their own brands and new storylines. My Damn Channel produces a diverse array of programming and… blah, blah, blah. Are you still reading this crap? This is the web age. People don’t read anymore. If you really want to see what we’re all about, check out PromoSexual.
So far the content isn’t especially appealing — there’s certainly no “Landlord” video set to take the site to 41 million views and beyond. But the piling on of the pros hopefully will turn up something worth watching.
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I find it interesting that you found technical problems with this site on “late Tuesday/early Wednesday” when this article was published Tuesday morning.
Adam on July 31st, 2007 at 5:44 am - Permalink
See also new Euro comedy site Constant Comedy
http://www.constantcomedy.com/
It has some British pro-comics (if not exactly anyone in Will Ferrell’s league) and the novelty-value of live crowd-voting, to ‘gong-show’ clips off as they’re playing.
There’s isn’t quite the same frat-comedy culture in the UK, but the net effect seems to be the same - a lot of low ratings.
Of course, when it comes to art (comedy, film, music, etc.) everyone’s a critic…
Mark Day on July 31st, 2007 at 7:05 am - Permalink
Adam, good point. I’ll fix the error. Mark, I hadn’t heard of Constant Comedy, thanks for the tip.
Liz Gannes on July 31st, 2007 at 8:33 am - Permalink
Having stared blankly at MyDamn Channel for a while, I can report that
a) they have the kind of navigation that belongs in some action-movie DVD menu, not a website.
b) let nothing bad be said about Harry Shearer
c) Don Was? Really?
Is this how one gets VC money these days?
“Missed out on Funny Or Die? Still pouting over YouTube? Fear not… For a mere 10 million you can get in on the ground floor of a new online video site showcasing the work of Hank Azaria and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. The kids will eat it up. Sold!
Next on the block, $12 million gets you a nice slice of a new online video site showcasing the work of Emo Phillips and Joe Walsh from the Eagles. Sold!
Next, any takers for a new video site with flagship content from Bobcat Goldthwaite and the singer from Steppenwolf….?”
I can has ca$hburger?
mark day on July 31st, 2007 at 9:32 am - Permalink
[...] Podcastingnews.com wants to know if Hollywood pros are smarter than you? Is this really just another funnyordie.com? Story at Variety.com. What Is My Damn [...]
Can We Find The Next Stars Through Online Channels? by How To Do Online Video on July 31st, 2007 at 2:49 pm - Permalink
The band interviews are pretty good:
http://www.mydamnchannel.com/channel.aspx?episode=50
Enric on July 31st, 2007 at 3:00 pm - Permalink
[...] Gannes at newteevee was so fast on the site a lot of it wasn’t up yet, despite its announcement, and she trashes [...]
My Damn Channel not too damn bad at TV MAMA on August 1st, 2007 at 8:43 am - Permalink
Wow…This site was “technically” launched Tues, July 31st at 7 AM. I was online checking it out at 8 AM and it was ALL over YouTube… I watched all the videos I wanted with no problems and loved it. Cheers to My Damn Channel…This website will take off faster than you can say, “Dammmmmmmnnnnnnnnn”
Caroline on August 1st, 2007 at 6:31 pm - Permalink
Were you holding an embargoed press release? Have you checked out all of the Don Was stuff? THAT’S the standout amongst the content. If they keep up the free music downloads, new interviews & music video style presentations of new music, people will come back. Yeah, episodic video is everywhere, but the approach of Don Was’ channel has real potential.
Not Easily Amused - My Damn Review Of It @ noteasilyamused.com on August 2nd, 2007 at 11:11 am - Permalink
I didn’t have any special access — I just went to the site when the Associated Press put out a story saying it was launching that day.
The company has since told me that even though the site was up, it was not fully ready until later in the day. But if you’re going to open yourself up and have the AP blow your horn, people are going to come poke around!
Anyways, good to hear that everything’s working now and that some people are loving it. I’ll give the Don Was channel another look.
Liz Gannes on August 2nd, 2007 at 2:10 pm - Permalink
Apologies for assuming that the site launched at midnight PT and extrapolating that your “Posted Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 12:11 AM PT” byline implied a post 11 minutes after launch. I’m sure there were embargoed press releases out there.
Not Easily Amused - My Damn Review Of It @ noteasilyamused.com on August 6th, 2007 at 7:41 am - Permalink
Can’t ANYONE get distribution through YouTube? Unless My Damn Channel is using some kind of back-end service, or something.
Shawno on August 18th, 2007 at 8:52 pm - Permalink
sweet jesus of yor!!
Dante Parks on November 7th, 2007 at 11:47 am - Permalink
[...] Schearer and former CBS Radio Exec Rob Barnett have launched My Damn Channel which is more or less a Funny or Die Clone with a flashier [...]
GRDGF » Blog Archive » Tuesday Quick Hits on February 22nd, 2008 at 10:32 am - Permalink
[...] more information, see NewTeeVee’s cover of their launch almost exactly one year [...]
My Damn Channel | Pop17 on June 25th, 2008 at 2:48 pm - Permalink
[...] name and assumed it was purely going to be comedy material you’d air. I’ve seen others make the same mistake and presume you were purely a niche site too. Looking at the site, it’s obviously much [...]
Metue interview with my damn channel ceo rob barnett discussing internet video market » Metue on June 25th, 2008 at 3:05 pm - Permalink