At the new expected to be run by Skydance TV President Matt Thunell.
With one exception: South Park.
The long-running animated series produced by South Park Digital Studios, a joint venture co-owned by Paramount and series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s Park County, will be part of the portfolio of fellow Paramount Global co-CEO George Cheeks, who has been named Chair of TV Media at post-merger Paramount.
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In his role as president of Showtime/MTV Entertainment, McCarthy led both MTV Entertainment Studios, which produces series for streaming, and Paramount’s side of the South Park studio. In one of his last acts at Paramount, he worked on Parker and Stone’s new five-year overall deal with Paramount Global and South Park Digital Studios’ exclusive five-year license deal with Paramount+.
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In his new role as Chair of TV Media, Cheeks will oversee Paramount’s broadcast and cable television businesses, including the CBS Network, CBS News & Stations, CBS Sports, and CBS Studios — as well as BET Studios, Nickelodeon TV Studios, See It Now Studios, and Paramount Media Networks, home to MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and BET.
The scripted TV production split has been done based on destination, with the units under Cheeks making shows largely for linear networks while the one under Goldberg catering primarily to streaming. While South Park is a streaming juggernaut — explaining the $1.5B Paramount+ just committed for exclusive rights over the next five years — South Park‘s original run is on a linear cable network, Comedy Central, which is why its studio fell with Cheeks, keeping the network and production side of the animated series under the same top executive.
With that, Cheeks will be adding two shows that have been taking shots at President Donald Trump, controversial settlement that was followed quickly by FCC’s approval of the Skydance-Paramount merger.
Read Deadline’s complete coverage of the Paramount-Skydance post-merger management team here.
South Park has a no trade clause deal. Show will go on for the length of the new contract.
Considering that their real owner (larry ellison – 77.5% of voting stock) is a buddy of Trump’s, the messaging from this will certainly be whatever Trump wants. CBS is going to become garbage.
McCarthy lauched a massive amount of hits compared w/ other steamers not named Netflix whether Dexter: Resurrection or Mobland. To replace him w/the team that introduced Peacock seems mad.
Cheeks will run the dead and dying part of the company. I hope Ellison isn’t dumb enough to sell Showtime or Nickelodeon
I for one will be boycotting anything Paramount and CBS except Colbert’s last months, & 60 minutes, unless they stiffel that show! Autocracy stinks!
Who cares about a bunch of corporate bull? The show has been on too long. Just like Simpsons, its just tired.
Nobody is making you watch it baby girl.