Marc Maron and My Damn Channel: WTF

I started my career in radio and I started My Damn Channel as a response to getting tossed out of radio in 2006.

Podcasts are not new, but in the past few years, a number of brilliantly talented people with brains and balls decided to head to their garages and go punk - bringing new shows to the masses on the Internet - without any of the soul-killing, corporate execs able to stop these brave rebels from creating completely original "radio" that puts the "F" back in Freedom.

I created Free FM back in 2004 to give awesome talent like Adam Carolla a radio show that harkened back to the earliest days of freeform radio....a form never done better than the way it's still being done today by Howard Stern.

When I got "shit-canned" as Adam loves to say - and could no longer protect him from the devils - he got "shit-canned" too. Adam took to his garage to build a monster audience for his podcast and My Damn Channel continues to put our cash where our heart is as a paid sponsor.

Today, we pony up again to become a proud sponsor of WTF with Marc Maron. If you know this show, then you simply need to know that I could no longer sit back and cheer for Marc without jumping in to support him. If you're uninitiated, then his words will be better than mine and I encourage you to watch the video of Marc's recent keynote speech given at the premiere comedy festival, Just for Laughs in Montreal.

Like with Adam Carolla, you'll hear My Damn Channel artists and comedians on WTF with Marc Maron. From time to time, Marc will tell you about the good shit we're doing here to premiere original series with great talent and without any of the corporate red tape that used to get in our way.

And we've now got a whole new Marc Maron channel to check out regularly when you're on My Damn Channel, featuring his podcasts, videos, extras and excerpts with a link to subscribe and donate like we did to a rare talent taking the truth by the horns.

Rob Barnett
Founder/CEO, www.MyDamnChannel.com

www.MyDamnChannel.com/WTF

www.MyDamnChannel.com

www.MyDamnChannel.com/SizzleReel

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The King And I: The Irreplaceable Howard Stern

Like millions of us, my stepmom is a lifelong Howard Stern fan. She just sent this photo taken off of Howard TV, airing our in-studio interview from earlier this week. I had the honor of being Howard Stern's guest on his Tuesday, 420 show (scroll to 840a).

Response is coming into My Damn Channel via email, phones, video views, comments, new subscribers, tweets, wall postings, and even a live spotting this afternoon in a clothing store (to complete the surreality). The influx of intense energy all flows back to a man undeniably uniquely qualified to hold the heavyweight title: "King of All Media."

Howard endures as one of the most talented and honest souls alive. He embodies the freedom of speech with every breath. For all who've been fired, laid off, downsized, pink slipped, discharged, axed, or job eliminated...it's hard to imagine speaking truth to power on a live microphone the way Howard has done it for decades.

I first followed Howard Stern on a carrier current, college radio station, 64 WTBU at Boston University. (There's a great scene depicting TBU in "Private Parts.")

If you've ever chased a radio dream, then your college years are likely the last time and place you ever experienced the fear and thrill of exercising your freedom of speech over a live mic.

Primordial FM rock radio stations were created in the late 1960's. Early heroes like Harry Shearer and Steven Clean were blowing minds at places like KPPC in Pasadena, California (which eventually became the world famous KROQ).

The combined forces of original radio talents and pre-corporate rock music created stations throughout the 70s powerful enough to infect audiences with a sense of community, purpose, passion, sex and fun that began to hit the wall around 1980.

I was sitting on the front steps of my apartment on Beacon Street in Boston with Steven Clean and my best friend, Mike Isabella the night Ronald Reagan was elected President. I was 20. I was about to drop out of college and take a full-time job as a rock radio jock at WAAF out in Worcester, Mass. One year later, I had the only radio thrill that came closest to being on Howard's show this week. Lightning struck and we convinced the Rolling Stones to do a private show for our station's fans in 1981 to start up the "Tattoo You" tour.

But, back to Mr. Clean. I'd been Steven's intern for a time at WCOZ in Boston. At that point in his career, Clean had been fired by many of the best radio stations in the country. He was a real life inspiration for the Dr. Johnny Fever character in "WKRP in Cincinnati." Steven was incredibly talented, brilliant, a true music expert and fan...and he was rebellious enough to drive the most patient souls to the edge of their sanity.

Considering the nation's new President, Steven held a joint firmly in my face and said, "See this? This is OVER!"
By the time of Reagan's second term, most radio station managers had a "Just Say No" policy for disc jockeys expressing free thoughts on mic, or taking free reign over any music playlist.

A small number of former radio station program directors shaved their beards, cut their hair, bought expensive suits, and armed themselves with halliburton briefcases filled with blow and bullshit designed to convince every fearful radio exec that they had the only secrets to ratings success, fortune and fame.

Conformity soon became the norm. Tighter playlists made stations sound the same from city-to-city. The job of disc jockey was transforming free thinkers into people paid to read positioning slogans, timechecks and weather forecasts.

In the midst of all this unholy homogenization, Howard Stern began to build a radio show free from the constraints put on most of his competitors. His talent grew on the radio and expanded with every carefully planned new project he launched.

Superfans know that Howard pays homage to legends who came before him like Lenny Bruce and George Carlin. I can't think of another entertainer who has more succesfully won battles with corporate brass than Howard. One of the many surprises about the real man to outsiders is how he maintains his position with grace and wisdom.

No one knows what the next chapter will be for the Stern show in 2011. Assume Howard can see the possible moves on the chess board more clearly than most. As a fan, I'll be following as I have since the beginning. As a business owner, My Damn Channel stands ready to serve The King anytime he calls. 

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RAMP (Radio and Music Pros) ON MY DAMN CHANNEL

RAMP (Radio and Music Pros) LAUNCHES NOW

I had two tours of duty in radio and one tour of duty in the record business in the daze before working at MTV/VH1 and launching My Damn Channel.

There's never a doubt that the music you first heard through the radio played as much a part of creating who you are as the food you ate. In some fashion, you are what you hear.

But radio and the music business has been taking it on the chin for years. Layoffs have been brutal. When the legendary industry trade Radio & Records was shut down after 36 years, more of our friends hit the beach. It was time to put some of the bitching and moaning aside (not all of it) and launch RAMP.

Kevin Carter, Keith Berman & Steve Resnik are the artists formerly known as Street Talk Daily. Their unique brand of accurate reporting - laced with snark and laffs - covers every hot story inside radio and music.

Weekday mornings - before the crack of dawn - RAMP delivers an e-mail blast with news breaking now. If you're a Radio and Music Pro, sign up for a free subscription now at RAMP@MyDamnChannel.com.

RAMP is ad supported by our friends in the music business dedicating to getting new sounds into the ears of radioheads who bring new music to humankind.

The RAMP website is an extra shot in the arm to give My Damn Channel fans access to music videos and to videos made by the best air talent in radio. Videos will promote and link back to bands and radio stations. Find the kitty now at www.MyDamnChannel.com/RAMP

Senior Editor Kevin Carter, his "Evil Minion" Keith Berman, Sales Pro Steve Resnik, and scantilly-clad operators are standing by to take your submissions: RAMP@MyDamnChannel.com.

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PRAISING ADAM CAROLLA

I'm listening to Adam Carolla online in NY this morning. I'm filled with sadness, anger, disappointment, and other badness because Fri 2/20 is the last morning the Ace Man broadcasts from 97.1 FREE FM in LA.

I hired Adam for this job back in 2004. For the past four years he built one of the best morning radio shows in the country. Adam is being so gracious this morning to all the enemies of good radio that it's....well....too gracious.

Over four years ago, nobody could 'replace' Howard Stern, he could only be 'followed.' Adam followed better than anyone else ever could. A caller to his show remarked that Howard may not be the same man in real life as he is on the air. Adam is an unusual talent. If you were sitting at his house, poolside, with a beer - you'd be hearing much the same man you'd hear on the radio.  He'd be grabbing every, seemingly small detail of the oddities of life and pulling you inside the inately funniest aspects of all of it.

Adam Carolla is an entertainer, a radio host, an improv artist, an actor, a writer, a producer, a boxer, a filmmaker, a carpenter, a car nut, a husband, a father, a dancer, a brilliant brain, and above all ... an extremely decent human being.  

You won't find many of those in the radio business in 2009. The magic of truly free thinkers and the music stations many of us all fell in love with long ago is all but dead. There are too many killers to name.

Instead, thanks and respect go to Adam, Teresa Strasser, Bryan, Angie, The Mikes, Kimmel, Dixon, Brusca, Dameshek, every affiliate that helped create big numbers in markets all over the country, and to the fans who embraced all of it.

As a fan, I'll keep tracking the movement at www.AdamCarolla.com.

As an new media outlet, truly FREE, without any job justifiers, or weak-kneed corporate suckass wannabees....the doors of My Damn Channel will always be open to you my friend.  You're a class act Carolla.

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CHALLENGES, DARES & THE LIKE

The emails are building up, the phone is even ringing - countless comrades from past lives are getting the shaft: downsized, restructured, laid off....what's the other word? Fired.

My Damn Channel is about half-way baked on an idea to put some of that fuel and fire together.

Turn the angst into employment!

Feel like cooking? Get off that facebook for five seconds and send us an email. We'll let you in on what's next:

rob@MyDamnChannel.com

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NEW NEW & NEW

We started My Damn Channel in the wake of an earlier round of big corporate layoffs as traditional media tried to wrap its arms around the intense insurgency of online video.

Many major media companies took a shot at chasing YouTube's brass ring, but they couldn't ride their horses fast enough to get into the lead ahead of all the upstart brands racing onto the field.

We ran fast in our first year. Some of our best competitors like Super Deluxe didn't make it. We loved their work.  We stayed determined to keep costs low, but still bring the best talent - treat them well - and let them deliver quality, original web video which is getting seen by an audience growing faster by the second.

In the past 24 hours, we've had the #1 video on all of YouTube - thanks to Big Fat Brain, creators of "You Suck at Photoshop" and their NEW web series, "Agency of Record."

This week, TIME Magazine honored us in their Top 10 Everything of 2008 - twice!  They put YSAP in the Top 10 TV Episodes of the year next to Lost, Mad Men, 30 Rock & Colbert. And they honored Sir Harry Shearer for one of his Katie Couric Open-Mic Moments that we call "Found Objects." 

Maria on our team just told me we passed 42 million total views yesterday.

This week, we added Suhaila Suhimi to lead the advertising team bringing more top brands in to sponsor all of our new programming.

Here's a list of what's NEW & what's coming for the year ahead with immeasurable thanks for every second you've stopped your world to take a look at www.MyDamnChannel.com:



Flight of the Conchords HBO premiere episode next week on My Damn Channel - 3 weeks before it airs on HBO !

STELLA - new channel just launched

GraceNMichelle - new channel just launched

Agency of Record - new episode tmrw/Fri

Heather Fink channel

new episodes of LAPDANCE with KURT LODER

new videos from atom.com

new episodes of BACK ON TOPPS - every Tuesday

new episodes of FACETIME

and a lil tease of more/new magic wonderments:

ED HELMS
KERRI KENNEY-SILVER
SAM SEDER
SARAH SILVERMAN
DAVID CROSS
ANDY DICK
ISLA FISHER
A.D. MILES
MARK MALKOFF
and....

S P I N A L   T A P   2 0 0 9
    

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PRESIDENT BUSH "LIES" ON MY DAMN CHANNEL

Press Release 

 

PRESIDENT BUSH “LIES” ON MY DAMN CHANNEL

Harry Shearer’s “935 Lies” World Premieres Today

 

New York, NY – May 13, 2008 – My Damn Channel World Premieres Harry Shearer’s music video, “935 Lies” today. The song is from Harry Shearer's forthcoming record "Songs of the Bushmen."  See it here.
 

Harry Shearer is an actor, author, director, satirist, musician, radio host, playwright, multi-media artist and record label owner. His work is inside the heads of millions worldwide from The Simpsons, This is Spinal Tap, Le Show, and Saturday Night Live. Shearer plunged into the online universe to become a cornerstone of My Damn Channel.  Each week, Shearer unveils a new political or pop culture satire on his own branded channel.

 

“935 Lies” is filmed in what looks like a corporate meeting held by the publishers of "Modern Liar" magazine. Shearer enumerates, with what looks like either pride or insensate rage, some of the almost one thousand falsehoods uttered by Bush Administration leaders that led us to war.  Oddly, as he does so, he sings about other notable things that come in bunches of a thousand.  And food is served.

 

According to The Center for Public Integrity, “President George W. Bush and seven of his administration's top officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, made at least 935 false statements in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq.”

 

Harry Shearer said, “If it just helps us all to be better liars in our own lives, this damn war will have been worth it.”

Rob Barnett, founder & CEO of My Damn Channel said, "The most powerful force in the world is not a weapon or a nation but a truth...that we are spiritual beings and that freedom is the soul's right to breathe." Barnett was quoting President George W. Bush. 
 

“935 Lies” Credits:

Music & Lyrics HARRY SHEARER; Director HARRY SHEARER; Producer KAREN MURPHY; Music Producer/Engineer JOHN FISCHBACH; Director of Photography MATT MINDLIN; Editor MIKE HALE

 

About My Damn Channel:

My Damn Channel is an entertainment studio and new media platform created to empower comedians, musicians and filmmakers to co-produce, distribute and monetize original, episodic video. Artists create content for the My Damn Channel website and for syndication on the most heavily-trafficked online communities and social networks. My Damn Channel has racked up 22 million views, 7 accolades from the 2008 Webby Awards, worldwide media coverage, major national advertisers and blah, blah, blah…Are you still reading? Start exploring now: www.MyDamnChannel.com

Contact:
Maria Diokno

866.424.8864
Maria@MyDamnChannel.com

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BACK TO VEGAS

We've just been invited to crash an odd party. The NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) wants us up onstage next month (Wed. 4/16) at their confab in Vegas. Our artists, the music, the funny, the post-corporate network mojo, the free buffet. More on this in the coming weeks. Harry Shearer will be there with me.

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49 MILLION MORE HUMANS GET 'MY DAMN CHANNEL'

Dailymotion Features Exclusive Debut of My Damn Channel's Bedtime Stories Dailymotion, the world's largest independent video sharing site, and My Damn Channel, the entertainment studio and new media platform, today announced a partnership that will bring My Damn Channel's original, professionally-produced episodic video content to Dailymotion's audience of over 49 million users worldwide. New York, NY (PRWEB) March 11, 2008 - Dailymotion, the world's largest independent video sharing site, and My Damn Channel, the entertainment studio and new media platform, today announced a partnership that will bring My Damn Channel's original, professionally-produced episodic video content to Dailymotion's audience of over 49 million users worldwide. Beginning Tuesday, March 11, 2008, Dailymotion will host an exclusive premiere episode of My Damn Channel's newest web series, "Bedtime Stories." Written and co-directed by Steve Kerper, whose previous work includes infamous sketches such as "Raging Bullwinkle" for HBO's "Hardcore TV," each episode of "Bedtime Stories" will offer a provocative retelling of a traditional children's story. The show stars web video cult personality and one-time pole vault medalist Grace Helbig and features illustrations by Asterisk (Saturday Night Live's "TV Funhouse"). In addition to the exclusive "Bedtime Stories" premiere, Dailymotion will now feature My Damn Channel's original comedy and music videos including "Horrible People," a soap opera with an evil, comedic twist written and directed by A. D. Miles ("Wet Hot American Summer"); "Cookin' with Coolio," a production of Dead Crow Pictures featuring hip-hop star Coolio creating his favorite "funkalicious" dishes and "Wainy Days," an hilarious, fictionalized account of comedian David Wain's ("The State," "The Ten") search for romance. My Damn Channel artists also include Harry Shearer, Andy Milonakis, Big Fat Brain ("You Suck at Photoshop") and Don Was. Content from My Damn Channel will be programmed by Dailymotion's creative managers into the site's channels alongside licensed videos from Dailymotion's Official users as well as original videos from the Motionmaker program. This curatorial strategy enables Dailymotion to deliver the highest-quality viewing experience by providing content in a manner that is user-friendly and easy-to-navigate. "We're excited to partner with My Damn Channel, a company that shares our dedication to bringing the freshest and most creative entertainment to the largest audience possible," said Danny Passman, Dailymotion's senior creative director. "We are also elated that they have chosen our site for the premiere of 'Bedtime Stories,' and are confident that our high-quality viewing experience and global audience makes Dailymotion the perfect platform for this debut." "Dailymotion adds massive global reach and effective promotion for our talent and our original videos," said Rob Barnett, Founder & CEO of My Damn Channel. "We found solid partners at Dailymotion to help fuel our mission to rewrite old media rules by allowing major artists to reach tens of millions of fans without any corporate interference." About Dailymotion: A top 30 website worldwide (source: Alexa), Dailymotion is the world's largest independent video entertainment website (source: Alexa; comScore, December 2007). Every day, over 15,000 new videos are uploaded into Dailymotion's global network of localized video entertainment sites, where the site's creative directors turn the user-generated and licensed content into high-quality entertainment for its 50-plus million monthly unique users. In January 2008, Dailymotion registered approximately 800 million video views across its global network. The site's Motionmaker program is designed to identify and encourage the most creative users on Dailymotion. Using the most advanced technology for both users and content creators, Dailymotion provides high-quality video in a fast, easy-to-use Web site that also automatically filters infringing material. Dailymotion's mission is to provide the best possible entertainment experience for users and the best marketing opportunities for advertisers, while respecting content protection. For more information, please visit http://www.dailymotion.com. About My Damn Channel: My Damn Channel is an entertainment studio and new media platform created to empower filmmakers, actors, comedians and musicians to co-produce, distribute and monetize original, episodic video content. Programming is created for the My Damn Channel site (http://www.MyDamnChannel.com/) and for distribution on today's most heavily- trafficked online communities and social networks including YouTube (www.YouTube.com/MyDamnChannel), MySpace, Dailymotion, and others. My Damn Channel gives its artists creative control and produces a diverse array of programming from talent including Harry Shearer, Andy Milonakis, David Wain, Don Was, Coolio, A.D. Miles, Steve Kerper and Big Fat Brain ("You Suck at Photoshop"). My Damn Channel is supported by an advertising revenue model, and by licensing the studio's entire portfolio of content across all forms of digital distribution, including online, mobile, VOD and DVD. ###

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MY DAMN CHANNEL IN TODAY'S SUNDAY NEW YORK POST

THE NEXT BROADCAST

by Ben Goldstein



March 2, 2008 -- Web entertainment enters prime time, as Internet networks start modeling themselves on real-world broadcastersBY THE TIME you finish reading this sentence, a 15-year-old mall-punk in central Michigan will have clicked on a YouTube video, gotten bored within seconds, and then clicked on another. It's that kind of insatiable thirst for the next bright, shiny Web-thing that's both fueling and challenging an emerging wave of Internet TV networks.



But for these rapidly multiplying entertainment sites that present original videos, usually released on a consistent schedule, it's also their greatest hope. Because although the audience that looks online for entertainment is fickle to the point of brutality, maybe their attention spans are so short because nobody has given them what they want yet.



Two weeks ago, actor-comedian Damon Wayans became the latest high-profile figure to throw his talent behind the still relatively unproven medium of Internet television, as he announced the impending debut of WayOutTV.com. The site will feature sketch comedy bearing the trademark Wayans Family mix of oddball pop-culture parody and provocative social commentary. Though an official launch date hasn't been established, samples are being released weekly at YouTube.com/WayOutTV.

"There is no urban destination online," Wayans says. "Everybody uses YouTube, but you have to dig deep and for a long time to find something that satisfies you. With WayOut, I'm the filter. I'm creating a brand of comedy as opposed to letting everybody just put up whatever they want."Though the comedian admits that building a Web site's infrastructure is new to him, he sounds like a veteran 'Net-geek when he talks about his big ideas, which include using WayOutTV to create viral ads for corporations, and focusing on content for mobile phones.



He'll need those forward-thinking concepts if WayOutTV is going to succeed.



As the Will Ferrell-backed FunnyorDie.com proved, it takes more than a big name to hold the eyes of an online populace in constant search of novelty. Pulling in about 2 million unique viewers per month, FunnyorDie may be a traffic success compared to other top-notch comedy destinations like SuperDeluxe and MyDamnChannel, but after drawing 4.5 million visitors during its April launch, FoD's numbers crashed and have yet to recover.Besides the fact that the site's videos lacked a predictable TV-like schedule, another reason for FunnyOrDie's somewhat disappointing performance could be its insular nature. The old model was to guard your content vigilantly so that it wouldn't fall into the hands of other video-sharing sites, where you wouldn't benefit from the traffic. (If you want to see Will Ferrell have an argument with a foul-mouthed toddler, you have to come here.)



This may have been a mistake.



New networks are distributing their content all over the Web rather than confining it to a single site, but they're doing so in a controlled way so artists' rights are protected. 60Frames.com, which launched its first series in January, follows a studio model in which professional artists are given resources to create videos that are syndicated to sites like YouTube and MySpace.



Shows produced by 60Frames include "WhoWhatWearTV," which has been theNo. 1-ranked fashion/beauty video podcast on iTunes since its debut, and the hilarious Jersey Shore-lampooning "Douchebag Beach" series."We knew there were a lot of talented artists who wanted to work in this space, but they didn't want to just upload their content to the 'Net without any support, or sell their ideas to media companies where they would be forced to give up ownership and control," says 60Frames CEO Brent Weinstein, who previously led United Talent Agency's digital media department. "When we hear an idea that's a good match for our company, we get behind it as quickly as we can, and once we're in business with artists, we give them quite a bit of free reign. We're the most artist-friendly option in the marketplace."



Of course, you might consider bypassing artists altogether.

A totally different (and more conventional) model for Internet TV is exemplified by Joost, a five-month-old service that presents more than 20,000 shows plucked from "real" TV networks such as Comedy Central and A&E. Original programming is a potential goal for the future, but Joost's main focus is on acquiring rights to existing programming and presenting it all in one place for free.But are more channels what people want?Though more than 5 million people have downloaded the Joost software to date, the company's North American GM, David Clark, says that the biggest challenge in running Joost is "helping people find what they are interested in.

"All of a sudden, that "filter" thing that Damon Wayans mentioned is starting to make sense. If you're lost in an abyss of options that aren't directly aimed at you, maybe you're in the wrong place. And Rob Barnett, CEO of MyDamnChannel, is even more critical of the repurposing strategy.

"I think there's a lot of cynicism in this attitude of, 'The kids are watching all this YouTube stuff, so let's go make another buck off the s - - - we already have,' " Barnett says. "It's rehashed, retreaded content that was made for a different medium. I'd rather say, 'Hey, let's blow their minds and give them something they haven't seen before.' "

Barnett managed programming and production divisions at MTV and VH1 for more than a decade before launching MyDamnChannel in July of last year. The site had 1 million unique users in January, and when we spoke with him, it was having its biggest traffic day ever thanks to a Harry Shearer-produced clip that showed candid footage of Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reilly during moments they didn't know cameras were rolling.

Less is certainly more at MyDamnChannel. Instead of a mass of individual videos that require searching, MDC presents eight highly produced channels, created by artists ranging from Harry Shearer to Coolio, which release a new episode every week. It's about as close to an actual TV network as you'll find on the Web, right down to the consistent scheduling, and it runs proudly against the grain of the user-generated content approach (which ManiaTV.com CEO Peter Hoskins colorfully refers to as "loser-generated content").

Like Wayans, Barnett realizes the importance of submitting to a higher power (i.e., YouTube) for exposure and distribution."If you just drop [your content] onto the Internet, you're in the biggest ocean in the planet, and you're lost," Barnett says.

Words of warning for the glut of new comedy-based Internet TV networks trying to follow the throw-it-all-at-the-wall approach set by FunnyorDie. Recent months have seen the launch of MyBlueCollar.com (Jeff Foxworthy's comedy site), NationalBanana.com (Jerry Zucker's comedy site), and the brand-new Comedy.com (Former UPN President Dean Valentine's comedy site). We don't necessarily recommend you visit any of them.Even though the trend is toward outrageous humor, not every Internet TV network goes for belly laughs. One of the most interesting new models is the development of a group of sites or channels that have nothing to do with one another, but are produced with the same aesthetic.

ONNetworks.com presents more than 20 do-it-yourself cooking, decorating, and green-living instructional shows aimed at the young and hip. The sites launched by the year-old NextNewNetworks.com, which is also led by former cable TV execs, have provided definitive destinations for everyone from vintage Corvette enthusiasts (VetteDog.com), to jewelry designers (MetalChik.com), to people who just like cute pets (UltraKawaii.com).

But there's one thing all these sites have in common: They won't ask you to pay a single dime for your entertainment.

With so much content already free on the Web, those who launch Internet TV networks know they have to be a little more creative when it comes to finding revenue streams. Hence, syndication deals, embedded ads, corporate brands integrated into programming and DVD releases.

Ultimately, Damon Wayans places his trust in the opportunity of the unknown that the online wilderness can be tamed and the pioneers of Web TV can eventually learn how to turn a profit.

"I personally feel that the Internet is what cable was 30 years ago," Wayans says. "It's like clay. Whatever you decide to make it, that's what it will become."

Channel guide: SURFING THROUGH the best of web tv

vbs.tv

Concept: Hipster entertainment from the minds that brought you Vice Magazine.

Best Show: "Shot by Kern" gives viewers insight into the artistic process of New York-based erotic photographer Richard Kern and the thought process of his models.

Also Watch: "The Vice Guide to Travel," "Epicly Later'd"

Schedule: More than 30 series are currently in rotation and are usually updated weekly.

NextNewNetworks.com

Concept: An umbrella group of micro-networks aimed at various niche interests.

Best Channel: IndyMogul.com, resources and moral support for DIY filmmakers.

Also Watch: ThreadBanger.com (fashion coverage with a punk rock 'tude), ChannelFrederator.com (animated comedy featuring Dan Meth's brilliant "The Meth Minute 39" series)

Schedule: Generally in the video blog format, each of NNN's subnetworks are on their own schedules, with daily or weekly updates.

SuperDeluxe.com

Concept: Boundary-pushing alt-comedy videos and social networking.

Best Show: "The Professor Brothers," wherein two bald, pompous community college lecturers try to make sense of the world.

Also Watch: "All My Exes," Norm MacDonald's "The Fake News"

MyDamnChannel.com

Concept: An Internet entertainment studio focusing on eight professional-quality channels produced by well-known artists.

Best Show: In "Wainy Days," writer/director/ex-State member David Wain repeatedly and hilariously fails to find his soul mate.

Also Watch: "Horrible People," "Big Fat Brain"

Schedule:

Monday: new episodes of Wainy Days, Horrible People

Tuesday: Harry Shearer

Wednesday: Andy Milonakis, Cookin' With Coolio

Thursday: Don Was, Carnival of Stuff

Friday: "Big Fat Brain"

ONNetworks.com

Concept: Unconventional instructional shows for a range of interests, all produced in HD.

Best Show: "Dinner with the Band," in which chef Sam Mason hosts his favorite bands for an evening of cooking, conversation, and live performance.

Also Watch: "Backpack Picnic," "Stump the Chef"

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