Louis C.K. to release stand-up special on website 1st
Published 3:35 pm Monday, January 19, 2015
LOS ANGELES — Comedian and actor Louis C.K. will sell his next stand-up special, “Louis C.K. Live From the Comedy Store,” on his own website first, replicating the strategy that worked for one of his previous programs.
The special will debut on Louisck.net and then air this spring on 21st Century Fox’s FX cable-television channel, FX Networks Chief Executive Officer John Landgraf said at a Jan. 18 event. The channel already is home to the performer’s show “Louie.” C.K. is touring and is the first comedian to sell out three consecutive shows at Madison Square Garden, according to FX.
An earlier stand-up special, “Live From the Beacon Theater,” took in more than $1 million in sales in less than two weeks during December 2011, C.K. said at the time. That success spurred other comedians, such as Maria Bamford and Aziz Ansari, to self-distribute their own programs.
Top comedians have often relied on big paychecks from premium cable networks such as Time Warner’s HBO and CBS’s Showtime, which remain popular destinations for comedy. HBO was the first place viewers could watch “Oh My God,” C.K.’s follow-up to “Live From the Beacon Theater.” Now comedians can use newer technologies to distribute specials on their own.
C.K. hasn’t commented on how much he will charge to view this latest special. It could cost $5, the same as “Live From the Beacon Theater,” Landgraf said at the event in Pasadena, California. FX will air a new season of “Louie” in April and has ordered a couple of pilots that C.K. is producing.
