• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, September 10, 2007

Continuing the verticalization of its content assets, Viacom's MTV Networks plans to launch two dozen stand-alone Web sites dedicated to shows like Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" by the first quarter.

"Our strategy is to keep moving beyond our core branded sites to invite fans to go as deep as they'd like with our content," says Judy McGrath, MTV Networks chairman and CEO, in a release.

Other shows getting the stand-alone treatment include MTV's coupling reality series "Engaged and Underage," Nickelodeon's family-friendly series "iCarly," and Comedy Central's acerbic "The Sarah Silverman Program."

TheDailyShow.com--expected to launch by the fourth quarter of the year--will give visitors access to the entire video history of the show, along with the previous night's entire episode, just hours after its TV broadcast.

The launch comes on the heels of an estimated $75 million deal between Comedy Central and the creators of "South Park," which includes the creation of SouthParkStudios.com, slated to relaunch in the first quarter.

For the new sites, giving users the ability to engage and shape the content landscape is a key element of MTVN's strategy.

"We're taking an open approach with our content on the Web, allowing our consumers to share, embed, influence and interact with everything they see on-air and online," says Mika Salmi, president of Global Digital Media at MTVN, in a release. "Our viewers become producers, consumers and participants because we let them cast themselves online for our TV shows, upload content and videos, or actually become their favorite cast members through our virtual worlds."

Targeted sites are nothing new for MTVN, which already maintains a slew of sites including Comedy Central's Indecision2008.com, MTV's YoMomma.tv and SuperSweet16.com.