Debmar Studios

Will Cartman and Kenny be as appealing if their mouths are washed clean of four-letter curse words? Comedy Central thinks so. The cable network has sold rights to sell reruns of "South Park," hoping to cash in on its most popular show, now in its seventh season. If Comedy Central succeeds, it would become one of the few cable channels ever to sell reruns to broadcast television. Until recently, cable channels didn't have the budgets to create broadcast-caliber programming.

Continuing its acquisition streak, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. announced Wednesday that it had bought one of the industry's few remaining independent television distributors. Debmar-Mercury, which owns the distribution rights to Lions Gate's TV series "The Dead Zone," Comedy Central's animated sitcom "South Park" and the Sci-Fi channel's "Farscape," will serve as the in-house distributor for Lions Gate's television product.

Continuing its acquisition streak, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. announced Wednesday that it had bought one of the industry's few remaining independent television distributors. Debmar-Mercury, which owns the distribution rights to Lions Gate's TV series "The Dead Zone," Comedy Central's animated sitcom "South Park" and the Sci-Fi channel's "Farscape," will serve as the in-house distributor for Lions Gate's television product.

Will Cartman and Kenny be as appealing if their mouths are washed clean of four-letter curse words? Comedy Central thinks so. The cable network has sold rights to sell reruns of "South Park," hoping to cash in on its most popular show, now in its seventh season. If Comedy Central succeeds, it would become one of the few cable channels ever to sell reruns to broadcast television. Until recently, cable channels didn't have the budgets to create broadcast-caliber programming.

Katie Callahan-Giobbi * Katie Callahan-Giobbi has been appointed director of sales and marketing at the Westin Century Plaza Hotel in West Los Angeles. She will oversee all sales and marketing activities for the 1,046-room hotel. She previously worked at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago. * Mort Marcus has been named executive vice president of sales and development for Go.com, an Internet portal and a division of Walt Disney Co.'s Buena Vista Television unit.