Comedy Central Programming Head Resigns

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bill Hilary has resigned as head of programming at Comedy Central, the Viacom-owned cable home of South Park and the new animated stand-up comedy series Shorties Watching Shorties. Hilary will leave at the end of August after four years with the network.

Hilary’s decision to resign is attributed to the appointment of former USA Network president Doug Herzog as Comedy Central president and CEO. While Hilary he says he gets along with Herzog, he told the Reporter, "It was not going to work. You can’t have two creative heads leading a company." Herzog served as president of Comedy Central in the mid-1990s.

Under Hilary, Comedy Central has seen ratings success with Chappelle’s Show, Insomniac, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, Reno 911! and Crank Yankers. He was also instrumental in maintaining the continued success of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and South Park. Hilary is reportedly open to other opportunities within Viacom.