Trey Parker and Matt Stone, co-creators of South Park, have signed a sweeping renewal with ViacomCBS that will keep the show on Comedy Central through 2027 and send 14 original movies to Paramount+. The $900 million agreement with MTV Entertainment Studios calls for a new movie on Paramount+ every two years starting this year, plus Comedy Central series commitment through season 30.
MTV Entertainment Group president/CEO and Paramount+ CCO adult animation Chris McCarthy approached Parker and Stone about extending their deal with Comedy Central and getting some South Park programming that would be exclusive to Paramount+. The company’s current strategy is to use its biggest hits on cable to lure customers to its streaming services. Earlier this year, McCarthy signed a new deal with Taylor Sheridan, the creator of the hit cable show Yellowstone, to create a spinoff show that will stream on Paramount+.
“Matt and Trey are world-class creatives who brilliantly use their outrageous humor to skewer the absurdities of our culture and we are excited to expand and deepen our long relationship with them to help fuel Paramount+ and Comedy Central,” said McCarthy. “Franchising marquee content like South Park and developing new IP with tremendous talent like Matt and Trey, is at the heart of our strategy to continue growing Paramount+.”
“Comedy Central has been our home for 25 years and we’re really happy that they’ve made a commitment to us for the next 75 years,” said Parker and Stone. “When we came to ViacomCBS with a different way to produce the show during the pandemic, Chris (McCarthy), Nina (Diaz), Keyes (Hill-Edgar) and Tanya (Giles) were immediately supportive and enabled us to try something new that turned out to be really well received. We can’t wait to get back to doing traditional South Park episodes but now we can also try out new formats. It’s great to have partners who will always take a chance with us.”
The show launched on Comedy Central back on 13 August 1997. Parker and Stone are the co-creators; Parker, Stone, Anne Gareino and Frank C. Agnone II serve as executive producers. Eric Stough, Adrien Beard, Bruce Howell and Vernon Chatman are Producers. Chris Brion is the creative director of South Park Digital Studios. The deals were negotiated by their long-time attorney, Kevin Morris and Park County’s Keith Pizzi.
South Park has maintained momentum in its 24th season. The South ParQ Vaccination Special is the top cable telecast of the year, with nearly 3.5 million total viewers. The Emmy-nominated Pandemic Special was cable’s number one scripted telecast of 2020.
The new deal, which runs through 2027, covers six more cycles of South Park and includes 14 made-for-streaming movies. It will become cable’s longest-running scripted series to keep fans giggling with new episodes through at least season 30.
