South Park will soon have a new home for streaming. A new report from Bloomberg suggests at least half a dozen different streaming platforms are currently in a bidding war for the streaming rights for the Comedy Central show with the rights expected to fetch anywhere from $450 million to $500 million. The adult-oriented animated comedy created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone is currently available on Hulu and it’s unclear if the same platform is still in the running for continued rights. According to the report, the rights money will be split between Viacom — the parent company of Comedy Central — and Parker and Stone after the parties previously agreed to a unique 50/50 split.
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The world of streaming is quickly becoming a lucrative landscape with streaming rights fetching more ludicrous numbers with each passing day. The South Park numbers are similar to what Friends and The Office and got from HBO Max and Peacock, respectively, in recent months. Netflix ended up shelling out a number north of $500m for the streaming rights to Seinfeld, which will end up filling the void once assumed by the two aforementioned shows. Hulu reportedly paid $250m for the South Park streaming rights in 2015.
Bloomberg suggests one of the companies not in the running is Apple TV, who shied away from the deal after China slammed down a South Park ban in wake of a recent episode poking fun at the country’s censorship of “Western movies and TV.”
Currently in its 23rd season, South Park is guaranteed for at least three more seasons after Comedy Central renewed the series through Season 26 earlier this year.
“South Park is the greatest comedy in the history of television, unmatched in its satirical strength and cultural relevancy and it shows no signs of slowing down,” said Kent Alterman, President of Comedy Central, Paramount Network and TV Land. “If humanity is still intact in 1000 years, historians will see the most transcendent artists of our era as The Beatles, Muhammed Ali, and Matt and Trey. We’ll do as many seasons as they would like.”
“Apparently, our efforts to get our own show cancelled have fallen short,”Parker and Stone added to the renewal statement. “Luckily, we love Comedy Central and Kent and our staff so we are looking forward to new cancellation opportunities in the next few years.”
South Park airs Wednesday nights at 10/9c on Comedy Central.
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