'South Park' seals $1.5B 5-year deal with Paramount
What's the story
Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the Emmy-nominated creators of Comedy Central's South Park, have reportedly reached a "historic" five-year agreement with Paramount for the global streaming rights to their animated series. The deal is valued at $300 million per year, totaling a whopping $1.5 billion, reported Los Angeles Times. This reported agreement follows a recent period of tensions involving Paramount and Parker-Stone, with allegations of interference by Paramount president Jeff Shell in negotiations with Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) and Netflix.
Streaming rights
'South Park' will now stream on Paramount+ in US
The new deal will make regular South Park episodes available on Paramount+ in the US for the first time. Previously, Warner Bros Discovery's HBO Max held exclusive streaming rights, although Paramount+ had aired several South Park event specials. The HBO Max contract expired last month. This agreement marks a significant strategic shift for the long-running animated satirical show, which premiered in 1997 and has since become a cultural institution known for its fearless satire of politics and pop culture.
Additional negotiations
Parker-Stone renegotiating overall agreement with Paramount
In addition to the streaming rights deal, Parker and Stone are also renegotiating an overall agreement with Paramount to keep producing new episodes for Comedy Central beyond their current contract, which ends in 2027. Their previous deal, worth $900 million, was signed in 2021 and financed those Paramount+-exclusive specials as well as the main series.
Production delay
Parker-Stone's upcoming appearance at Comic-Con
The new deal comes just days before Parker and Stone's appearance at San Diego Comic-Con and ahead of the premiere of South Park's 27th season on Comedy Central. The season premiere was recently pushed back by two weeks to July 23, with Parker and Stone expressing their frustration over the Paramount-Skydance merger situation affecting South Park production. They called it a "shit show." But looks like things have smoothed out now.