‘South Park’ Creators Sign $1.5 Billion Deal With Paramount+
First reported by the LA Times, the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, have finally found a home for their acclaimed satirical animated series last Monday following several months of heated negotiations over streaming rights with the freshly merged Paramount+ and Skydance. The deal was made only two days before the show’s 27th season premiere on Wednesday, July 23rd, after it was already postponed a couple of weeks.
Sources close to the negotiation table (who choose to remain unidentified) claim that the streaming service agreed to a 5-year, 50-episode deal with Parker and Stone through their production company, Park County, for global streaming rights at $300 million a year. Those same sources say that the lucrative deal also functioned as an advance on the streaming revenue, which helps to explain the large amount.
“Trey and I and the whole South Park crew are grateful for this extension and this deal,” Matt Stone said (per The Hollywood Reporter). “We want to thank [Paramount co-CEO and president of Showtime/MTV Entertainment] Chris McCarthy and [COO] Keyes Hill-Edgar for years of great partnership and are looking forward to continuing to make South Park for the next five years.”
“We are grateful for this opportunity and deeply honored by the trust placed in us,” Trey Parker added. “This is about more than a contract – it’s about our commitment to this organization, our teammates, and our fans. We’re focused on building something special and doing whatever it takes to bring championships to this city.”
What started as a 10-year, $3 billion offer from Park County imploded when Warner Bros. Discovery pulled out of the deal that would’ve had the series streaming on HBO Max. Skydance balked at the offer as well, insisting that the future of video streaming was too precarious for such a long-term agreement. That’s when Park County hired famed litigators, Stuart Liner and Bryan Freedman, to file a lawsuit, and even went so far as to call the Paramount/Skydance merger “A sh–show!”
“Matt and Trey are singular, creative forces whose fearless humor and boundary pushing storytelling have made South Park one of the most beloved and enduring series ever, more popular today than at any point in its history, and one of the most valuable TV franchises in the world,” Chris McCarthy told THR. “They are exceptional talents and trusted partners. We’re thrilled that Comedy Central and now Paramount+ globally will be the home to South Park for years to come, and our thanks to the Skydance team for their vital partnership in making this happen.”
On top of all this, both sides have separately been negotiating a new deal for Parker and Stone to renew their previous $900M deal with Comedy Central that expires in 2027.
South Park made its unforgettable debut on Comedy Central in August of 1997, and the controversial strips of talking cardboard cutouts have since become pop culture icons. The show itself is now the most popular program in the network’s 34-year history, along with being one of the greatest animated comedies of all time. Whether it’s Mecha-Streisand battling Robert Smith, the Crab People trying to emasculate society, or just Cartman trying out for the Special Olympics. When you’re goin’ down to South Park, there’s no telling what you will find.
For the moment, South Park is still available to watch on HBO Max, and below is a classic song by the late/great singer Isaac Hayes, who played Chef on the series:
