Bidding War For ‘South Park’ Streaming Rights Could Reach $500 Million

So far, the most heated battles for tv rerun streaming rights have centered around live-action shows (Friends, The Office, Seinfeld), but now animation is getting hot too. As many as six companies are currently bidding for exclusive U.S. streaming rights to Viacom’s South Park series.

The show’s large back catalog (South Park passed its 300th episode earlier this month) could fetch anywhere between $450 to $500 million, according to a Bloomberg report. The price would be a significant increase from the three-year $192 million dollar deal that the show signed with Hulu in 2015.

Reportedly, Netflix has dropped out of the bidding, but likely bidders include Warnermedia’s HBO Max, NBC’s Peacock, and Amazon. Hulu, which is now fully-controlled by the Walt Disney Company, is also in the mix, hoping to retain the show on its platform. On the other hand, Bloomberg suggests that Apple’s streaming service won’t bid on the rights due to wariness over “offending China, where it sells a lot of iPhones.” South Park was recently banned in that country.

This is also a rare case where the creators of a corporate animation project stand to benefit financially from its success. That’s because South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone negotiated a remarkable deal back in 2007 that gave them a 50/50 split on all non-television revenue, including South Park merchandise, video games, theatrical releases, and perhaps most importantly now, streaming rights. When Parker and Stone launched their own studio in 2013, it was valued at $300 million; it’s safe to say that the studio will be worth far more after this latest streaming deal is finalized.