Never underestimate the explanatory power of “South Park,” the animated Comedy Central show created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Again and again over the past 11 seasons, “South Park” has offered a satiric primer on adult behavior, including notably trenchant, compact analyses of the Mormon faith and whatever you choose to call Scientology. It would be interesting, now, to see a “South Park” episode devoted entirely to the groundbreaking new contract Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker have just signed with Viacom, the parent company of Comedy Central. The contract creates a new digital hub for all things “South Park” and also brings Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker half of the ad revenue their show generates. Historically, that kind of revenue sharing goes entirely against the principles of Hollywood.

What made this possible wasn’t merely the success of “South Park,” the show that really got Comedy Central off the ground and is still its most valuable franchise. It was a clause in the original contract that reserved to the show’s creators a slice of any revenue generated apart from actual broadcast on Comedy Central. At the time, it was unclear where any of that extra revenue might come from. But that clause has essentially kept “South Park” clear of Viacom’s efforts (not notably successful) to become an Internet power. And it has created what may be a new model in the balance of power and money between creative artists and companies like Comedy Central.

So “South Park,” which begins its 12th season in October and has been extended to 15 seasons, is no longer merely the crudely animated, rudely scripted tales of Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny. It is now a studio, a digital hub, a creative powerhouse in its infancy — but with the potential to become the kind of marketing monster that the boys might well find themselves fleeing from, a monster like, say, Mecha-Streisand.