Paramount+ paying $1.5B for ‘South Park’ streaming rights over next five years

Oh my god, they paid $1.5 billion.

“South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have inked a five-year deal worth $300 million a year to move the franchise’s streaming rights to Paramount+, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

The satirical animated series had most recently been on HBO Max, and the creators had previously considered a deal where both Paramount+ and HBO Max would share streaming rights, a deal that was inked prior to Paramount+’s launch.

After talks with HBO Max parent Warner Bros. Discovery fell apart, Parker and Stone’s Park County production company focused efforts on inking a deal solely with Paramount.

The new deal, announced July 21, 2025, comes after a period of uncertainty following tense negotiations that also appeared to be affected by the increasingly controversial upcoming Skydance Media-Paramount Global merger.

“This merger is a sh*t show and it’s f*cking up ‘South Park,'” said Parker and Stone in a statement released on social media, after it was announced the series’ upcoming 27th season would be delayed by two weeks. 

“We are at the studio working on new episodes and we hope the fans get to see them somehow,” the statement continued, suggesting that the creators thought the deal might collapse, though it’s also possible the post was part of a strategy to drum up publicity and fan support.

The purported deal, meanwhile, also contains a provision that 10 new episodes each year will be available for streaming.

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Assuming the deal closes, this will mark the first time Paramount+ has streamed “South Park” in the United States. The deal reportedly covers global rights, so the show is likely to continue to be available on international iterations of the streamer.

Earlier in talks, Parker and Stone were seeking a 10-year, $3 billion agreement with Paramount, according to Times sources. Paramount reportedly wasn’t keen on that idea, which obviously would have locked them into a longer time period at double the price tag. It’s not clear why Paramount may have taken issue with that, though it’s possible being locked into a decade-long deal may not have been appealing given how fast streaming has evolved in just the past 10 years.

If the terms of the contract reported are accurate, the deal for half the time at half the price would essentially mean Paramount is paying about the same amount for streaming without the longer-term time commitment. There was no word if Park County may have been willing to offer an incentive, such as lowering the per-year rate in exchange for a longer deal. 

Given that South Park has run for 26 seasons and still remains one of the most valuable cable entertainment properties could have meant Park County was reluctant to provide any “discounts” for a brand that could continue to increase in value even amid shifting viewer habits. Of course, it’s also possible the brand’s star falls over the coming years as viewer habits shift. 

The streaming deal between South County and Paramount is separate from the show’s Comedy Central deal, which was signed back in 2021 and requires the show to air on the cable channel through 2027. Parker and Stone are currently working on renegotiating that agreement. Comedy Central is also part of Paramount Global.

It’s not clear if the often raunchy content included in “South Park” may have affected Paramount’s interest as it continues to be scrutinized for recent decisions that some have seen as a way to appease MAGA, including paying $16 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Donald Trump and canceling “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”