South Park will have a new exclusive streaming home in 2020, as HBO Max has won the bidding war for the streaming rights to the Comedy Central series. Created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, South Park has been massively popular for over two decades, making the title one of the most-wanted shows by the various competing streaming services. To sell more subscriptions, each of the big streamers will need to score as much exclusive content as they can, and bringing in South Park is certainly a huge win for HBO Max.

Reportedly, the big-money deal is valued at $500 million to $550 million, though an exact number hasn't been revealed. The multi-year deal was made by South Park Digital Studios, which consists of Viacom, Parker, and Stone. It covers all 23 seasons of South Park which will be available to stream on the service, along with the three planned upcoming seasons for the series. Per the deal, episodes will appear on HBO Max 24 hours after the episode debuts on the Comedy Central network. Currently, the show is streaming on Hulu, but it will make its move to HBO Max officially in June 2020.

Kevin Reilly, chief content officer and president of HBO Max, confirmed the news in an official statement. "South Park is unequivocally among the best-setting the satirical gold standard, with a consistent finger on the comedy pulse," Reilly says, recognizing the high quality of the show's writing and its continued popularity with its viewers. Additionally, he adds, "Audiences have connected with Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny - either alive or dead - for over 20 years, and we look forward to connecting these characters to new audiences on HBO Max." Certainly, the amount of cash the company is forking over for the streaming rights to South Park is quite an investment, but making HBO Max its exclusive streaming home will certainly help generate some additional subscriptions.

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South Park first debuted on Comedy Central all the way back in 1997. It follows a group of elementary schoolers - Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman - and their misadventures in and out of school. Over the years, the series has evolved outside of its self-contained stories with most of its episodes now serving as social commentary. After more than two decades on the air, the series has established itself as one of the most beloved animated programs of all time, and the series remains just as popular as ever. As of now, the series is in the midst of its 23rd season and has aired over 300 episodes. While the tone of the show is a bit different now compared to how it was 20 years ago, South Park has always been funny in its own unique ways, and binging the older episodes can be just as fun as watching the latest installments of the series.

New episodes of South Park air Wednesday nights on Comedy Central. As of now, they'll also be available to stream on Hulu the day after they air, but that will change in June 2020 when the series moves to its new home on HBO Max. As Comedy Central has already renewed the show through 2022, we have plenty of new content to look forward to in the years to come, whether we're watching it live or streaming it on the new streaming service. This news comes to us from Variety.

Jeremy Dick at TVweb
Jeremy Dick