Warner Bros. sued Discovery for “stealing” Paramount South Park Content for which it claims to have exclusive streaming rights; As previously reported by Variety. In A case was filed on FridayHBO Max’s parent company says it has worked with Paramount South Park’s creators and its MTV subsidiary “to channel the new South Park Content as much as possible to attract the audience to the stage” Paramount Plus.
In 2019, Warner Bros. Discovery It says it paid about $1.6 million South Park Digital Studios (SPDS) for more than 300 episodes each – a joint venture between Paramount and South Park Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone – agreed to the license. Warner Bros. Discovery owns Paramount, which also owns Comedy Central. South ParkSouth Park Digital Studios, the longtime home of cable TV, was “induced” to break its deal with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Paramount “used grammatical finesse” to classify new content as “films,’ ‘films,’ or ‘events.’
The deal will bring the show’s entire library and 30 new episodes for seasons 24, 25 and 26 to HBO Max through June 2025. However, Warner Bros. Discovery alleges that it did not receive the amount it was paid. . It claims South Park Digital Studios reneged on its promise to deliver 10 new episodes for each season and charged the company extra for 50 minutes. Pandemic specialty.
The case also takes issue $900 million is a huge deal Paramount created by creators South Park In August 2021 – a few months after the launch of Paramount Plus. As part of the agreement, South Park will stream exclusively on Paramount Plus once the deal with HBO Max ends.
The studio later produced several Paramount Plus-exclusive specials South Park: Post-Covid, South Park: Post-Covid: The Return of CovidAnd South Park: Streaming Wars Part 1 And area 2, which debuted throughout 2021 and 2022. Warner Bros. Discovery claims that these specials should have been included in their contract, and that South Park Studios, Paramount and MTV “used the grammatical trick of classifying new content as ‘movies.’ “
In a statement Variety, a Paramount spokesperson said the company believes “these claims are without merit” and accuses Warner Bros. Discovery of “failing and refusing to pay the license fees owed to Paramount for episodes already delivered and episodes HBO Max continues to stream. .” Paramount did not immediately respond on the edgeA request for comment.
The lawsuit comes at a critical time for Warner Bros. Discovery, which reported that it added just 1.1 million subscribers to HBO, HBO Max and Discovery Plus last quarter, while losing another $2.1 billion over the same period. It looks clear South Park As a key component of HBO Max, it calls the case “anchor” content “central to branding and marketing,” and that having the series helps streamers “grow subscribers and subscription fees, and attract advertisers.”
Warner Bros. Discovery is suing Paramount, SPDS and MTV for “significant monetary damages,” which will be determined at trial.
