South Park downloads to HD DVD

Episode free with Xbox 360 add-on through Xbox Live, Best Buy promotion

By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 3/5/2007

MARCH 5 | Comedy Central is getting behind HD DVD with two promotions tied to the first-ever high-definition episode of South Park.

Starting Tuesday, the Viacom-owned cable channel will offer Microsoft Xbox 360 users a free download of 2004 episode “Good Times With Weapons.”

Later this month, Best Buy will offer free HD DVDs of the episode to anyone who buys an Xbox 360 or HD DVD add-on for the 360 at its stores. The Best Buy promotion will run from March 20 to April 3.

Comedy Central sister company Paramount Home Entertainment is format agnostic, putting movies and TV shows out on both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. However, promotional partner Microsoft is solely in the HD DVD camp.

Xbox 360 users can download the free episode through the Xbox Live Marketplace for the next two weeks.

The promotion kicks off the day before the 11th season of the show begins on March 7. Uncensored episodes of season 11 will be available on Xbox Live beginning March 13.

Episodes from seasons five through nine are now available for download and have been among the most popular downloads on the site, according to Comedy Central.