A deal reached yesterday between CTV Inc. and New York-based Viacom Inc. has raised hopes that Canadian networks will soon be able to significantly bolster their online video offerings of top U.S. programs.
CTV has secured the rights to put several programs from Viacom's Comedy Central station on the Internet in Canada. The deal includes new episodes, and shows dating back several years. Programs such as The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and South Park will be streamed through the website of CTVglobemedia Inc.'s Comedy Network.
Though CTV and rival CanWest Global Communications Inc. of Winnipeg have secured the digital rights to a small number of shows in recent years, most prime-time U.S. television is blocked for Canadian Internet users as companies south of the border experiment with different profit models for Internet video.
Comedy Central has made digital rights for most of its shows available to Canada under the deal, said Ed Robinson, CTV's senior vice-president of comedy and variety programming. "It's not everything they've done. But it's a good chunk of the last 10 years."
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