If viewers have gone looking for South Park on HBO Max lately, they’ll notice it’s gone — and it’s not coming back anytime soon. After five years of streaming on the Warner Bros. Discovery platform, all 26 seasons of the long-running animated satire have officially moved.
Here’s why South Park isn’t on HBO Max
For the past five years, HBO Max was the go-to platform for binge-watching South Park. However, HBO Max’s deal to stream South Park expired, and creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone signed a massive $1.5 billion, five-year agreement with Paramount.
Under the new arrangement, Paramount+ became the exclusive U.S. streaming home for the series. As of now, every past season is available there, and new Season 27 episodes drop on the service the day after they air on Comedy Central.
This shift was years in the making. Back in 2019, Warner Bros. Discovery secured U.S. streaming rights to Seasons 1–23, plus future episodes through Season 26, in a lucrative licensing deal. But when Paramount Global launched Paramount+ in 2021, it struck a separate agreement with Parker and Stone for a string of South Park movies, leading to tension between the two media giants.
The rivalry escalated in 2023 when Warner Bros. Discovery sued Paramount, accusing it of breaching their agreement and siphoning viewers away from HBO Max. Paramount countersued, claiming Warner was late with licensing payments. The dispute left the show’s streaming future uncertain, especially as Paramount entered acquisition talks with Skydance Media in 2024.
Just before Season 27 premiered, Paramount and Skydance finalized their merger on August 7, 2025, allowing Parker and Stone to secure their new deal. South Park will stream exclusively on Paramount+ for at least five years, leaving HBO Max subscribers surprised by its sudden removal.
Meanwhile, South Park is wasting no time making headlines in its new streaming home. Season 27 kicked off with biting political satire aimed at Donald Trump, his allies, and even federal agencies like Homeland Security. Episodes have mocked figures such as JD Vance, Kristi Noem, and Charlie Kirk, keeping the show’s reputation for controversy alive and well.
