\'SpongeBob\' and Others Come to Hulu

By BRIAN STELTER

Nickelodeon shows like “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “iCarly” are coming to Hulu, the streaming TV Web site, for the first time.

In a pact announced Tuesday by Nickelodeon's owner, Viacom, episodes of selected shows will be accessible to subscribers of Hulu's paid service, Hulu Plus. The episodes will show up online three weeks after they first appear on television.

The Nickelodeon shows are an addition to a pre-existing distribution deal between Viacom and Hulu. The deal, announced early last year, instituted the same three-week delay for shows like MTV's “Jersey Shore” and TV Land's “Hot in Cleveland.” Since then, though, some shows have been removed from Hulu Plus completely. Searches for “Jersey Shore,” for instance, now refer users to MTV's own site, where episodes are still available.

In making their announcement on Tuesday, the two companies acknowledged the changes by saying, “The avai lability of Viacom content on Hulu Plus varies on a show-by-show basis.”

“The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” remain the two shows that are available on Hulu free the day after their premieres on television.

Viacom said the streaming Nickelodeon shows will include, along with “SpongeBob” and “iCarly,” “Big Time Rush,” “Victorious,” “How to Rock” and “Supah Ninjas.” Five episodes of each will be available to Hulu Plus subscribers on a delayed basis.

Nickelodeon has suffered some TV ratings weakness in the past years. Some Viacom analysts have wondered whether the weakness was attributable, in part, to the online availability of Nickelodeon shows. But Viacom executives (and other analysts) have played down that possibility.

Online streams, when delayed by three weeks, might instead be a promotional platform for the TV premieres, thus increasing ratings: Viacom and Hulu said Tuesday that the new Nickelodeon page on Hulu Plus would “feature tune-in information and promotional elements to drive viewership of Nickelodeon's on-air lineup.”

The Nickelodeon episodes are available on Hulu Plus right away. Down the road the service will also add episodes of shows from Viacom's bilingual cable channel for Latinos, Tr3s. The two companies declined to comment on the financial terms of the pact.