The boys from South Park may be headed to broadcast. That is,
broadcast syndication.
Comedy Central has cut a deal with Mort Marcus' Debmar Studio to syndicate
the first four seasons of the animated show beginning in fall 2004. With more
than 100 episodes so far, South Park could fetch up to $100 million in
syndication.
Debmar will pitch stations on South Park's strong appeal with
young men. Because of its sometimes raunchy content, the show will
likely go into a late-night slot.
"We think stations will want that demo, especially in late-night, where those
people live," Comedy president Larry Divney said. Comedy passed on pitching the
show to other cable networks.
Divney said the network has license to clean up the show with light editing,
and some episodes will be kept out of syndication, like one episode where the
word "shit" was uttered 162 times.
South Park's ratings on Comedy have returned to Earth in recent years,
but it is still the network's highest-rated show.
