The New York Times is reporting that Matt Stone and Trey Parker will be streaming the first nine seasons of South Park on Netflix. However, the factoid I found the most interesting was that they "retained non-television rights to the show as part of their original deal with the cable channel".

I often praise Matt and Trey and believe that under their guidance they produce one of the most witty, insightful and subversive shows on television. The fact that they had the foresight to retain non-television rights to their show in an era when television is becoming less important as a medium in our daily lives is outright brilliant.

I'm reminded of Microsoft's original deal with IBM where they retained the rights to the code and IBM would only "lease" it. The Internet became a phenomenon around 1995. South Park started in 1997. Obviously, the creators saw where things were heading, planned accordingly and are now reaping the rewards.

[via TV Week]