Viacom Puts Daily Show Online

Taking a page from YouTube's playbook, Viacom is putting every minute, ever, of "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" online, the Los Angeles Times reports. The parent of Comedy Central has long been stung by the unauthorized appearance of clips on YouTube; the massive archive is Viacom's attempt—sure to be watched by other media outfits—to get into the game itself and collect online ad revenues.

Viacom admits it was YouTube—still the object of a $1 billion lawsuit for copyright infringement—that opened the company's eyes to the demand for the shows. The entertainment industry,  will follow TheDailyShow.com anxiously. “Comedy Central is doing what a lot of others are planning,” one analyst said. “They’re much further along in monetization.” (More YouTube stories.)