Ha!: The TV Comedy Network, owned by Viacom, was one of the first American all-comedy channels available to basic cable subscribers. Launched on April 1, 1990 at 7 p.m. ET, it competed with another startup comedy-oriented cable channel, HBO-owned The Comedy Channel (now Comedy Central).
Unlike The Comedy Channel, which focused on stand-up comedy specials and clips of classic comedy feature films, Ha!'s programming centered largely on acquired off...
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Ha!: The TV Comedy Network, owned by Viacom, was one of the first American all-comedy channels available to basic cable subscribers. Launched on April 1, 1990 at 7 p.m. ET, it competed with another startup comedy-oriented cable channel, HBO-owned The Comedy Channel (now Comedy Central).
Unlike The Comedy Channel, which focused on stand-up comedy specials and clips of classic comedy feature films, Ha!'s programming centered largely on acquired off-network situation comedies from the 1950s to the 1970s. Some cable providers, particularly those owned by Viacom or Cablevision, carried the channel under a channel-share agreement in which it would be aired on the same channel space as fellow Viacom-owned cable network VH1; Ha! would air for half of the day, with the channel turning over to VH1 channel afterward.
In 1990, Ha! and Comedy Channel agreed to merge to create CTV: The Comedy Network, which began airing on April 1, 1991; prior to the merger, both channels each had fewer than 10...
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