Comedy Central and New York Comedy Festival's COMICS TO WATCH Showcase Premieres Online Today

"Comics to Watch" is a showcase featuring a wide range of diversely talented young comedians. It was created to launch the careers of the next generation of comedians by putting them in front of industry executives and comedy fans. The selection process involved live showcases in multiple cities. The all-comedy network and the festival organizers worked closely together to identify the best new stand-up comedians. Comedians from past "Comics to Watch" showcases such as Michael Che, Emily Heller, Ben Kronberg, Adam Newman, Kurt Braunohler, and Kevin Biggins have gone on to making stand-up appearances on COMEDY CENTRAL shows including "John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show" and "CC Stand-Up Live from The South Beach Comedy Festival."

Available on-air, online and on-the-go, COMEDY CENTRAL (www.cc.com) is the #1 brand in comedy and is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA and VIAB).

The New York Comedy Festival is produced by Carolines on Broadway in association with COMEDY CENTRAL. The festival has featured the country's top comedians, including Louis C.K., Bill Maher, Ricky Gervais, Kathy Griffin, Dane Cook, Sarah Silverman, AZIZ ANSARI, Wanda Sykes and Joel McHale, to name a few. In 2007, the festival launched the "Stand-Up for Heroes" event to benefit The Bob Woodruff Foundation, which has featured performances by Robin Williams, Jon Stewart, Jerry Seinfeld, Lewis Black, Ricky Gervais, Conan O'Brien and Bruce Springsteen. The festival is produced by Carolines on Broadway. Sponsors are Citbank, Klondike, JetBlue and Svedka Vodka. The media sponsors are New York Post, Time Out New York, Variety and the Village Voice.

For more information, visit www.comedycentral.com.