Central hires Above Average chief

Comedy Central in the US has named a former Broadway Video comedy executive to head its digital output.

Jennifer Danielson

Jennifer Danielson, who joins the Viacom-owned cablenet as senior VP of digital, will have creative and editorial control of all of its digital content, ranging from shortform series to social video.

Danielson arrives after a tenure as president of digital comedy studio Above Average, a subsidiary of multimedia entertainment studio Broadway Video.

An Above Average exec from its creation in 2012, she steered all aspects of the business to produce a company with more than 2.6 billion YouTube views to its name and partnerships with brands including Comedy Central, TruTV and YouTube Red.

It is the second high-profile departure from Above Average recently following former senior VP of programming and marketing strategy Patrick Courtney’s move to Fuse Media in July.

Josh Line, executive VP of marketing and creative, said: “She brings industry-leading experience in the digital space and possesses a creative vision that has led to longstanding success producing award-winning comedy across linear and digital platforms.

“Her passion for comedy matches ours and she shares the same appreciation for the sharp comedic voices, innovation and experimentation that have so successfully built the Comedy Central brand.”

Danielson’s addition comes in the wake of Alterman telling C21 how Comedy Central was responding to a boom in late-night satire thanks to the election of Donald Trump.

In September, it lengthened the contract of Trevor Noah, presenter of The Daily Show, until 2022. Along with recently extended The President Show, The Daily Show frequently pillories the US president.