• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, June 11, 2008

In a move likely to anger cable operators, Hulu.com will begin streaming full episodes of Comedy Central's calling cards. "The Daily Show" and "Colbert Report" will now be available on the site, which is dedicated to bringing the TV to the Internet, where it has a slew of shows available on-demand.

The move comes only days after Glenn Britt, the chief of Time Warner Cable, the nation's second-largest MSO, suggested that networks' continued aggressiveness at making shows available free on the Web is not something his company (or the cable industry) fully endorses.

Eventually, if this is not already the case in a small number of instances, it may lead to what's known as "cable bypass"--individuals may opt to cancel their cable subscriptions.

Of course, Britt said MSOs could fight back by hiking their broadband prices.

Nonetheless, it is remarkable just how many TV shows' full episodes are available on the Internet (with a relatively low commercial load), including most of the top network scripted series and many in cable. Arguably, the only premium broadcast content not available in full online are certain sports events and "American Idol."

How this will affect the business as younger consumers reared online age up is uncertain. But as the head of NBC Universal's local TV stations suggested recently, with younger people often purchasing laptops before TVs, it is an issue.

Certainly, the two Comedy Central shows are a coup for Web viewers. Comcast said last month that its Fancast.com also would have the shows--and as the floodgates open, they will be on ComedyCentral.com. too. While Britt at TWC questions the tactic, perhaps curiously, Comcast looks to embrace it with Fancast. Comcast is the country's No. 1 cable provider. It may be hedging its bets, believing that large-scale "cable bypass" is a legitimate threat and refusing to be caught flat-footed.

Comedy Central is part of Viacom. CEO Philippe Dauman has said that the company was offered the chance to become a partner in Hulu, but took a pass in order to maintain control over its content. News Corp. and NBC Universal spearhead the site.

A Reuters report said Comedy Central would obtain a share of the ad dollars from Hulu, in line with what the site provides to its programming partners.