By Kenneth Li
NEW YORK (Reuters) - MTV Networks plans to make every clip from every episode of hit animated comedy "South Park" available for free online next year as part of a strategy to reach consumers everywhere.
The decision from the biggest division of media conglomerate Viacom Inc (VIAb.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) follows on the heels of the "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," whose popularity online has helped boost television viewership.
MTV Networks's Comedy Central network began offering in October some 13,000 "Daily Show" videos dating back to 1999.
Offering versions of TV shows online has not hurt television ratings, and may have actually helped. "One does not diminish the other by any stretch of the imagination. That is kind of our hat trick," MTV Networks Chairman and Chief Executive Judy McGrath said at the Reuters Media Summit in New York on Wednesday.
In August, Comedy Central signed an extension of a deal with "South Park" creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, and agreed to create a new joint venture to spread "South Park" materials across the Web, on mobile phones and video games.
So far, the venture, SouthParkStudios.com, features a small collection of video clips from the show.
Bernstein Research said on Wednesday cable network ratings at several of Viacom's channels spiked in November, led by MTV, reversing a steep decline earlier in the year.
Other shows from the 20-year archives of MTV Networks could also get the same online treatment, but executives stopped short of naming other properties. Continued...
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