'South Park' Conjures Up Record Ratings With the 'Imaginationland' Trilogy

'South Park' Conjures Up Record Ratings With the 'Imaginationland' Trilogy

Episode III Was Viewed By 3.9 Million Total Viewers Making It The Most Watched Telecast of 2007 on COMEDY CENTRAL

The 'Imaginationland' Trilogy Was Viewed By Almost 10 Million Total Viewers

COMEDY CENTRAL Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment to Release an Extended and Uncensored DVD of the Trilogy in March 2008

NEW YORK, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- "Star Wars," "The Godfather," "Indiana Jones." Historic trilogies all, and now they have company. The exciting conclusion to "South Park's" "Imaginationland" trilogy aired Wednesday, October 31 and drew almost 4 million total viewers, making it COMEDY CENTRAL's most watched telecast of the year.

Episode III of the trilogy, in which Kyle, Stan and Butters engaged in the battle of their lives to save Imaginationland and Cartman's ongoing mission to secure justice for his dry balls came to a head, scored a 2.8 HH / 2.5 P18-49 rating. With almost 2.8 million adult viewers watching, the Emmy(R) and Peabody(R) Award-winning series drew more viewers P18-49 than any episode since its historic second season during which Cartman discovered the identity of his father. The October 31 episode was the night's most watched program in all of television among Men 18-24 and Men 18-34 and was the number one program among P18-49 in all of cable.

All told, the three episodes of the "Imaginationland" trilogy (see synopsis below) drew almost 10 million unique viewers to "South Park's" Wednesday premiere time slot (10:00 p.m. -- 10:30 p.m.), averaging a 2.7 HH / 2.4 P18-49 rating (3.6 million total viewers P2+ / 2.6 million viewers P18-49). The trilogy averaged a colossal 7.5 rating among Men 18-24, scoring a 23 share across the three episodes among this highly coveted demographic -- even beating out Game 1 of the World Series -- the highest M18-24 ratings since the epic second season in 1998.

The "Imaginationland" trilogy will be released by COMEDY CENTRAL Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment in March 2008. The special DVD release will be uncensored and will include additional footage created exclusively for the DVD. More details will follow.

Launched in 1997, "South Park," now in its 11th season, remains the highest-rated series on COMEDY CENTRAL. "South Park" regularly airs on Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. and repeats Wednesdays at 12:00 a.m., Thursdays at 10:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. and Sundays at 10:00 p.m., 11:30 p.m. and 3:00 a.m.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone are co-creators and executive producers of the Emmy(R) and Peabody(R) Award-winning "South Park" with Anne Garefino as executive producer. "South Park's" Web site is www.southparkstudios.com.

COMEDY CENTRAL, the only all-comedy network, currently is seen in more than 91 million homes nationwide. COMEDY CENTRAL is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned division of VIACOM Inc.'s (NYSE:VIA) (NYSE:and) (NYSE:VIA.B) MTV Networks. COMEDY CENTRAL's Internet address is www.comedycentral.com. For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs visit Press Central, COMEDY CENTRAL's press Web site at www.comedycentral.com/press.

"Imaginationland" Trilogy -- Synopsis

The doors of a whole new dimension are thrown open and the boys of South Park walk right in. It all begins with Cartman's quest to find a leprechaun and in turn, win a bet with Kyle that would force him to suck Cartman's balls. The kids have just arrived in Imaginationland, a wondrous, magical place, when terrorists attack, unleashing all of mankind's evil imaginary forces upon the world. With imaginations running wild, the government steps in and prepares to nuke Imaginationland thus eliminating further attacks on the country's most vulnerable spot. A crisis faces the nation and Stan and Butters remained trapped in Imaginationland. Kyle pleads with the Pentagon for his friends' lives and Cartman goes all the way to the Supreme Court to get justice for his dry balls.

Source: COMEDY CENTRAL

CONTACT: Steve Albani, +1-212-767-8695, steve.albani@comedycentral.com,
or Jenni Runyan, +1-310-407-4771, jenni.runyan@comedycentral.com, both of
COMEDY CENTRAL

Web site: http://www.comedycentral.com/
http://www.southparkstudios.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment