David Letterman’s long stint on the late-night show is about to get a global boost as his Worldwide Pants teams up with NBCUniversal and Melzigo to expand distribution of more than 6,000 episodes on YouTube, Facebook and other platforms around the world.
The deal calls for Melzigo to optimize Letterman’s late-night variety show archive, which began in 1982 and ran through 1993 on NBC’s “Late Night with David Letterman,” and CBS’s “The Late Show with David Letterman” from 1993 to 2015.
“David Letterman’s unparalleled late-night broadcast spanning 40 years of shows on NBC and CBS includes 6,000 hours of the most memorable television content in the history of pop culture. We continue to expand our distribution of these iconic moments on YouTube and Facebook. By partnering with Merzigo, we will be able to reach even more fans and new viewers across all platforms and devices, delivering thousands of videos in the highest quality they’ve ever seen,” said Worldwide Pants Executive Walter Kim. Digital producer.
NBCUniversal Global Television Distribution already partnered with Worldwide Pants to launch a Letterman-themed FAST channel via Samsung TV Plus last year. The growing deal and focus on free, ad-supported streaming platforms is another sign that owners of large content libraries see further potential in FAST channel distribution. NBC owns the “Late Night With David Letterman” archive. Worldwide Pants owns the CBS “Late Show” archive. It’s a deal that reflects Letterman’s outsized influence when he moved from NBC to CBS.
“Our partnership with Worldwide Pants is an important step in unlocking the full digital potential of ‘The Late Show with David Letterman.’ By combining Merzigo’s advanced technology and algorithmic expertise with this iconic content, we aim to significantly improve discoverability and deepen audience engagement across YouTube and Facebook,” said Dilip Bala, Managing Director, Americas, Merzigo. “This collaboration allows us to not only introduce the show to a new generation, but also reimagine the viewing experience for longtime fans through platform-native optimizations and data-driven enhancements.”
Merzigo’s proprietary technology makes it easy to mine large archives like Letterman to create compilations, collages, and related content, along with bespoke graphics, multilingual dubbing, and search and filtering options. The company is currently affiliated with Hearst Media Production Group and Steve Harvey Global. It is based in London, Los Angeles and Istanbul.
(Photo: Pee-wee Herman on NBC’s “Late Night with David Letterman” in 1983)
