In 2011, C.K. released his $5 stand-up special through his website. The material became a hit that it sold more than a hundred thousand copies. Pig Newton made history because the result of the release was a rare occurrence for a comedy special. Later on, C.K. sold the rights to the special to FX.
A year later, other artists copied his $5 download business model. For his part, C.K. and Pig Newton continued to make waves when he sold 55,000 copies of Tig Notaro’s performance on the subject of her cancer diagnosis. Later in 2012, C.K. had a tour and sold tickets to his fans for $45 each. Ticketmaster cheered Pig Newton for such an accomplishment.
Once again, C.K. is showing signs that he is selling his comedy special to HBO. Should the plans succeed, the program will air this year, just in time before he sells them directly to his fans for $5.