"South Park" creators sign $1.5 billion five-year deal with Paramount

Paramount has reached an agreement with "South Park" writers and producers Trey Parker and Matt Stone to acquire global streaming rights to the series. The $1.5 billion deal will allow the cartoon to move to the Paramount+ platform, ending its run on HBO Max, UNN reports with reference to Latimes.

Paramount has agreed to buy the global streaming rights to "South Park" to bring the series to the company's digital service Paramount+ in the US for the first time.

The deal between Paramount and the creators of the cult animated series Trey Parker and Matt Stone, formalized through their production company Park County, "provides for the transfer of global streaming rights for $300 million per year," two sources familiar with the contract details, who cannot comment on the deal publicly as it is not yet final, said.

Ultimately, the five-year agreement will generate $1.5 billion in revenue from streaming alone, confirming "South Park"'s status as one of the most valuable television franchises in the world. Under the terms of the contract, Park County undertakes to release 10 new episodes annually.

Addition

Paramount sought to bring the series "home." Back in 2019, the company's then-management licensed the show to a competitor, HBO Max, as Paramount's streaming platform was still under development. The agreement with HBO Max expired at the end of June.

In the spring, Paramount offered Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns HBO Max, a co-licensing option for the series. This would allow Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny to appear on two platforms at once - Paramount+ and HBO Max. However, according to one source, negotiations with Warner Bros. Discovery fell through over the weekend and on Monday, and Paramount decided to act independently.

Both sides sought to finalize the agreement by Wednesday - when the 27th season of the series is scheduled to premiere on Comedy Central. The premiere date had already been postponed due to internal company processes, as Paramount is preparing to sell assets to David Ellison's Skydance Media. Paramount and Skydance also tried to avoid a public scandal, as Parker and Stone are scheduled to speak at Comic-Con in San Diego on Thursday.

The agreement, signed back in 2007, guarantees Park County almost half of the series' streaming revenue through a joint venture with Paramount called South Park Digital Studios. This mechanism will allow Paramount to offset approximately half of the license fee it agreed to pay for the broadcast rights.

On Monday, the parties declined to comment.

"The Simpsons" will run until 2029, but there will be fewer episodes13.06.25, 17:10 • 3993 views