South Park fans who have waited for more than two years to get a new season of the hit animated comedy, will have to wait a little bit longer — the Season 27 premiere on Comedy Central, originally slated for Wednesday, July 9, is being moved to Wednesday, July 23. The network has released a new poster for the upcoming season, touting the return of Stan, Kyle, Cartman, Kenny and other popular characters, including Jesus.
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| 'South Park' | Comedy Central |
The delay comes amid tension — including a legal threat — over South Park‘s lucrative streaming rights as the series was caught in the uncertainty over Skydance’s pending acquisition of Comedy Central parent Paramount Global, which co-owns the joint venture behind South Park, South Park Digital Studios, with series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone who run it.
In a statement after South Park’s new return was announced, Parker and Stone slammed the move.
“This merger is a sh*tshow and is f*cking up South Park,” they wrote on social media. “We are at the studio working on new episodes and we hope the fans get to see them somehow.”
The show’s $500 million exclusive streaming licensing deal with HBO Max expired a week ago but has not been replaced by a new exclusive one — or multiple non-exclusive ones.
The latter has emerged as the likely scenario. Paramount Global had long stated that they want the show on the company’s streaming platform Paramount+. In May, Paramount Global co-CEO Chris McCarthy told investors on the company’s earnings call that “starting this July, [South Park] will be coming to Paramount+ in the US.” The series is already available on Paramount+ services in selected territories.
At the same time, South Park streaming rights — believed to be non-exclusive — have been shopped to other platforms, with HBO Max parent Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix making bids, according to a legal letter an attorney for Parker and Stone’s Park County sent recently to RedBird, Skydance and RedBird’s Jeff Shell — who is poised to become Paramount Global President upon completion of its proposed acquisition by Skydance — over alleged interference in the deal negotiations. THR reported on the letter, in which Parker and Stone threaten legal action over what the document claims included an attempt to get WBD to agree to a shorter, 5-year term and to take new seasons of South Park after they’ve had a 12-month exclusive window on Paramount+.
While the matter is being resolved, the existing 26 episodes of South Park continue to be available on Max as part of an extension during deal renewal negotiations. The show did not launch on Paramount+ July 1 as many anticipated, with no advisory on the status by the streamer, creating confusion among fans. The show was also absent from Paramount+'s monthly highlights. Paramount+, which carries a handful of South Park specials made exclusively for the platform that became the subject of a lawsuit by WBD, is still expected to start streaming the show in time for the new season.
Co-creators Parker and Stone are executive producers, along with Anne Garefino and Frank C. Agnone II. Eric Stough, Adrien Beard, Bruce Howell and Vernon Chatman are producers. Christopher Brion is the Creative Director of South Park Digital Studios.
Here is a teaser for South Park Season 27, which was released at the time of the original premiere date announcement.
Official Comedy Central press release:
SOUTH PARK’S 27TH SEASON PREMIERE SHIFTS TO WEDNESDAY, JULY 23RD AT 10:00PM ET/PT ON COMEDY CENTRAL
July 2, 2025 - New York, NY - Comedy Central today announced that South Park’s 27th season premiere has moved to Wednesday, July 23rd at 10:00pm ET/PT.
The hit animated franchise, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2022, debuted on Comedy Central on August 13, 1997. Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny were first seen in the animated short “The Spirit of Christmas,” and from there were launched into television history. Co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are executive producers, along with Anne Garefino and Frank C. Agnone II. Eric Stough, Adrien Beard, Bruce Howell and Vernon Chatman are producers. Christopher Brion is the Creative Director of South Park Digital Studios. South Park’s website is SouthPark.cc.com.
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Originally published: July 03, 2025.
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