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Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert fans can now watch their Comedy Central shows until the cows come home. Video site Hulu.com has announced that the two politically oriented, “fake news” shows will be available on that site.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report are among the first TV shows on the Hulu site that did not originate with the site’s two parent companies, NBC Universal and News Corp. The Comedy Central network is owned by Viacom.

Just in Time for Election

Both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report have established an extensive Web presence through their own sites, and MTV Networks, the division at Viacom that oversees Comedy Central, has been very aggressive about online distribution and content. Viacom has also made some of its programming available to Joost, a Hulu competitor that also distributes high-quality TV programming via broadband Net.

Both Viacom shows are expected to hit their stride as the national election approaches. But the impact of the shows is greater than simply a chuckle. For instance, The Colbert Report was awarded a coveted Peabody Award this year, and the host has boasted on more than one occasion about the alleged “Colbert bump” — an increase in popularity following a politician’s appearance on the show.

Hulu, which has more than 70 programming partners, is also expected to add selected programs from PBS later this month, including Nova, Carrier, Scientific American Frontiers, Wired Science, and others. In all, Hulu.com has more than 700 television and movie titles.

‘Video-Snacking’

Bobby Tulsiani, an analyst with JupiterResearch, said it was “certainly exciting” that Hulu is expanding its programming to include Viacom. He noted that both The Colbert Report and The Daily Show “are perfect for the Web,” because both of the Comedy Central shows are based on short material.

“It’s perfect for the ‘video-snacking’ form…