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South Park: Hulu Forks Out Record-Breaking $192 Million For Exclusive 3-Year Deal

By Pam Wright
Published on: 03:10 PST, Jul 11, 2015

Hulu has forked out a whopping — and record-breaking — $192 million in its deal with Viacom for an exclusive three-year online streaming deal for Comedy Central’s South Park.

As previously reported by the Inquistr, the South Park Hulu deal comes amid a growing competition in the online streaming market.

So much so that Hulu is prepared to pay more cash to Viacom for the South Park rights than they paid ($180 million) for exclusive online streaming rights for Seinfeld on Hulu.

According to a press release, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone agreed to a new deal for 30 brand new episodes of Comedy Central’s South Park over the course of three seasons.

The deal means that Hulu will have the exclusive rights for three more years, while Comedy Central will continue to air the show for the next five years. This new deal ensures that cable’s longest-running scripted series will pass the 300th episode milestone in 2019.

Comedy Central’s president, Michele Ganeless, said she is “thrilled” with the deal and that South Park will remain on the air.

“The series remains as urgent and relevant now as the day it premiered and at nearly 20 seasons in, it continues to draw generations of new fans.”

Doug Herzog, the president of Viacom, said that South Park remains a popular series.

“South Park today remains as important and influential as any series on any platform and has become one of the most recognizable brands to ever come out of television.”

The South Park Hulu deal is expected to boost Hulu in its battle against Netflix and establish Hulu as the dominant provider on the market.

According to Variety, the entire South Park series will be available starting July 12 on both Hulu and SouthPark.cc.com.

South Park originated in the minds of creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and began as a construction paper animated Christmas card short film commissioned from by then Fox executive Brian Graden.

The short, titled Santa Vs. Jesus, was received so well in the mid 1990s that Parker and Stone developed it into a TV series.

It took some time to find an eventual home for the show, reports Geek.

“Even though Graden had discovered South Park, Fox passed on the show and Parker and Stone pitched it to MTV and Comedy Central. Ultimately going with Comedy Central because they feared MTV would soften the content, South Park debuted on television in 1997.”

The South Park Hulu deal will surely help fans sit back and relax, knowing Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman will return for their 19th season on Comedy Central on September 16 this year thanks to Hulu.

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