COMEDY CENTRAL's(R) 'The Colbert Report' Honored With Prestigious Peabody Award

NEW YORK, April 2, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- "The Colbert Report," COMEDY CENTRAL's nightly talk show in which Stephen Colbert gives his take on the issues of the day and, more importantly, tells viewers why everyone else's take is just plain wrong, has been honored with a prestigious George Foster Peabody Award in the 67th Annual Peabody Awards competition, it was announced today.

Considered the broadcast and cable industry's most prestigious prize, the Peabody Awards were announced by the University of Georgia's Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, which has administered the Peabody Award program since its inception in 1940. The awards will be presented at a luncheon ceremony to be held at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City on June 16, to be hosted by NBC News' Brian Williams.

"I proudly accept this award and begrudgingly forgive the Peabody Committee for taking three years to recognize greatness. On a personal note, I'd like to say that I've long been a fan of Mr. Peabody, as well as his boy Sherman," Colbert said.

COMEDY CENTRAL had been honored previously with two Peabody Awards for the multiple Emmy-winning "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart's 'Indecision'" election-year coverage in 2000 and 2004, as well as a 2005 Peabody Award for the network's long-running, highly-rated irreverent animated series "South Park," also a multiple Emmy-winner.

"The Colbert Report" with its 80 staffers will be heading to Philadelphia to cover the all-important Pennsylvania Democratic Primary. This marks the first time the show is broadcasting from a remote location. In the proud tradition of his Presidential Campaign, Colbert has once again courageously partnered with the first name in electoral snacking: Doritos. "The Colbert Report: Dorito's Spicy Sweet Pennsylvania Primary Coverage From Chili-Delphia -- The City Of Brotherly Crunch!" will be taped at the 900-seat the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts' Zellerbach Theatre on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania and will air nightly at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT from Monday, April 14 through Thursday, April 17.

"The Colbert Report" is produced by Jon Stewart's Busboy Productions, Inc. in association with Spartina Productions, Inc. Stewart, Colbert and Allison Silverman are the executive producers with Meredith Bennett and Richard Dahm as co-executive producers. Jim Hoskinson is the director. Lou Wallach and Dan Powell are the executives in charge of production for COMEDY CENTRAL.

COMEDY CENTRAL, the only all-comedy network, currently is seen in more than 91 million homes nationwide. COMEDY CENTRAL is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned division of VIACOM Inc.'s MTV Networks. COMEDY CENTRAL's Internet address is http://www.comedycentral.com/. For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs visit Press Central, COMEDY CENTRAL's press web site at http://www.comedycentral.com/press.

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom , is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with more than 150 channels worldwide, owns and operates the following television programming services - MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, VH1, mtvU, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN/THE N, VH1 CLASSIC, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, all of these networks trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 300 interactive properties worldwide, including online, broadband, wireless and interactive television services and also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.