Atomfilms becomes a joke, UGC gets Comedy Central airtime

Professional short form video's longest-running site AtomFilms has merged with user-generated content partner AtomUploads.com into what is now simply called Atom.com, and has shifted its focus exclusively to comedy.

With the site change, Atomfilms' partnership with sister company Comedy Central takes a more central role. The cable comedy network recently began airing a late-late-late show called AtomTV that airs much of the Atom's content and serves as a showcase for the weekly winner of the site's Upload Showdown contest. Its champion is determined by audience voting, and participants are amateur video makers who get a chance to sign a "professional" contract (a nonexclusive licensing agreement for their video) and earn a $500 prize.

Atom's parent company Viacom/MTV Networks did almost the exact same thing with iFilm, which it merged with SpikeTV, and turned into the VH1 series "Web Junk 20." Where iFilm's Web Junk content is also available to Sprint customers, Atom content is available on Verizon's V CAST and AT&T.

Other partnerships include iTunes, AOL, Bebo, Dailymotion, Veoh, and Xbox Live.
The site remains free, but videos have both pre-roll and overlaid commercials, as well in- browser advertisements.