We Still Aren’t Sure Where ‘South Park’ Will Stream This Year
We’re only weeks away from Trey Parker and Matt Stone don’t know for sure what comes next.
Deadline broke down the chaos. First, Paramount has a $500 million exclusive streaming licensing deal with HBO Go, er, HBO Max, er, Max, er, HBO Max that expires on June 30th. That makes the July 9th premiere date for Season 27 seem purposeful — South Park’s entire library will now stream exclusively on Paramount+. Chris McCarthy, the Paramount Global suit who oversees Comedy Central, bragged about that exclusivity on earnings calls this month.
But wait! Paramount+ might not be the sole streaming home for South Park after all. Deadline reports ongoing behind-the-scenes talks might keep the animated comedy on HBO Max — that would be “in addition to” Paramount+, not “instead of.”
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Why would Paramount give up the goods? Deadline says multiple streaming homes are a common practice for popular shows created under the traditional TV model. That way, enterprising producers can’t sue big media companies for self-dealing at the expense of others who stand to profit. In other words, South Park creators Parker and Stone want as much cash as possible.
Despite being streaming “partners” on South Park, things have gotten ugly between HBO Max and Paramount in recent years. HBO Max’s then-owner, WarnerMedia, coughed up $300 million in 2019 for exclusive domestic streaming rights to South Park. This was all before Paramount+ ever existed. Once that streamer launched, however, Parker and Stone began creating exclusive South Park specials for Paramount+. Cue the lawsuits! (They’re still fighting it out in court over that one.)
This is mostly a game of corporate musical chairs, with South Park profit participants the only guaranteed winner in the game. For now, we can safely say you’ll be able to watch those July episodes on Comedy Central. And Paramount+. And maybe HBO Max. Or maybe on another streamer.
Got that?
Somehow lost in the shuffle is the actual comedy coming in July. Based on the trailer, fans can expect a bloody war against Canada, Butters contributing to air traffic control chaos and the return of Diddy and Starvin’ Marvin. Woo-hoo!
You’ll be able to watch those episodes… somewhere. The only other thing we know for certain: Thanks to the $900 million Comedy Central gave them for new episodes through Season 30, Trey Parker and Matt Stone will continue to be very, very rich men.
