Louis CK: Live at The Beacon Theatre (05/12/12 on FX at 10PM ET)

In case you were one of the few people who didn’t download Louis CK‘s Live at The Beacon Theatre $5 online only comedy special, you can catch it on TV starting this Saturday, May 12 at 10PM ET on FX.

The special, which was filmed in November at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan, went on sale at the comedian’s Web site in December at a cost of $5. It rapidly sold more than 220,000 downloads and grossed more than $1.1 million, more than enough for Louis C. K. to cover his production costs, pay bonuses to his crew, donate $280,000 to charities and persuade comedians and broadcasters to take the online-only model much more seriously. The FX broadcasts of “Live at the Beacon Theater” and the coming third season of “Louie,” which begins June 28, are technically free, provided you pay your subscription fee to a cable or satellite service that offers FX. [NYTimes.com]

In other related news, Louis also released a new $5 audio only download on his website today called WORD: Live at Carnegie Hall.

This is material that I was performing two years ago (about) on a tour that was called “Word”. Some of this material was on my FX show “Louie” in pieces but the entire show in one piece was never released. This show was recorded at Carnegie Hall on November 4, 2010. [LouisCK.net]