Ha! (TV channel)

HA!
One of the examples of the various designs of the Ha! logo. Designed by Noel Frankel, Fred/Alan, Inc., New York. (This version illustrated by Lou Brooks).
Launched	April 1, 1990
Closed	April 1, 1991
Owned by	Viacom
Replaced by	Comedy Central

Ha!, 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. In 1991, the two channels merged to form Comedy Central.

MTV Networks had carved out a niche for itself in the cable programming marketplace throughout the 1980s with its flagship networks MTV and Nickelodeon. Up until that point, there had been only one instance of competition among genres in the cable industry, that of Ted Turner launching a rival to MTV, Cable Music Channel, which ended up being short-lived and Viacom using the channel space for an older-skewing counterpart to MTV, VH1. At the same time though, research constantly encouraged management that a channel strictly dedicated to comedy programming would be profitable, motivating MTV to forge ahead with plans for a comedy channel. When HBO announced the launch of The Comedy Channel, MTV Networks retaliated by announcing the debut of its own rival channel, Ha!

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 afterward. Programing included Caesar's Hour, in half-hour segments with Sid Caesar intros, The Steve Allen Show, also edited to a half-hour format with 1990 reflections taped by Allen, You Bet Your Life, The Jack Benny Program, the 1960-67 CBS network prime time version of Candid Camera, The Phil Silvers Show, and Car 54, Where Are You?.