If the Paramount+ South Park The movie deal seemed odd when HBO Max got an exclusive for the series, You’re Not Alone. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has sued Paramount Global for allegedly violating parts of the $500 million contract that gave HBO Max the broadcast rights to South Park in 2019. WBD claims that Paramount “blatantly intended” to steer users toward its service by not only offering new specials, but also flipping HBO’s service on promised regular season content.
HBO Max has reportedly been promised three new seasons with 10 episodes each. However, the provider says that it only got eight episodes in the two seasons delivered, and that the next season’s six episodes also falls short. In addition to this, Paramount allegedly used “verbal tricks” to rebrand content as movies or events to avoid sending video to its competitor.
In a statement to Engadget, Paramount says the lawsuit is “without merit.” He also maintains that he is still honoring the contract despite the fact that Warner allegedly did not pay license fees for products already delivered. South Park episodes We have asked WBD for comment.
The claim is not shocking. WBD, formerly WarnerMedia, was determined to amass as much content as possible for HBO Max ahead of its 2020 launch, including Friends and doctor who. Whether or not Paramount breached its contract, the South Park content on Paramount+ diminishes the content advantage of HBO Max: you no longer have to use that service if you want to stream the recent adventures of Cartman and his crew.
Meanwhile, Paramount has multiple reasons to challenge the lawsuit. Paramount+ is thriving even as rivals like Netflix struggle, having surpassed 43 million users as of last spring. While it is unclear how much of a role South Park is playing into that growth, the company may not want to give up the broadcast rights to one of its best-known shows (remember, Paramount owns Comedy Central) without a fight.
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