Paramount’s new CEO doesn’t appear to assume he has a “South Park” drawback.
Rather, David Ellison sees the animated present as a part of the answer for the battered media firm.
Ellison mentioned he has been a fan of “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker for his whole grownup life. “Matt and Trey are incredibly talented,” Ellison advised NCS. “They are equal opportunity offenders and always have been.”
The Comedy Central present definitely is a key asset for Paramount. But it has emerged this summer time as one of the vital scathing critics of President Trump on US tv, elevating considerations about whether or not Paramount has the abdomen for the political complications that might comply with.
Trump has tried to bully his media critics this 12 months, with some success, together with at Paramount. Former homeowners of the corporate had been accused of bribery after settling Trump’s legally doubtful lawsuit towards “60 Minutes” final month. The Trump administration accepted Paramount’s merger with Skydance Media days after the settlement was finalized.
Ellison, the CEO of the newly merged enterprise, mentioned he wasn’t concerned with that settlement. “We comply with all laws, including anti-bribery laws,” he mentioned at a press convention Thursday.
Ellison dodged questions on whether or not he individually agreed to air public service bulletins for Trump-aligned causes. (Trump says he did.)
“I do not want to politicize our company in any way, shape or form,” Ellison mentioned.
But in a 12 months marked by acts of appeasement and capitulation, Paramount workers and viewers have questioned whether or not new administration will assist information protection and leisure content material that ticks off Trump.
The current cancellation of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” intensified these considerations since Colbert is an outspoken Trump critic.
On Thursday, Ellison mentioned he wasn’t concerned in that call, and solely came upon on the day it was introduced. But he reiterated what nameless sources mentioned on the time — that “The Late Show” was shedding cash in a distressed late-night TV market.
“South Park,” however, is very worthwhile, as Ellison identified to NCS.
He praised Stone and Parker at size and pointed to Paramount’s current five-year cope with their manufacturing firm as proof that his workforce will spend money on development areas going ahead.
The deal, which is value $1.5 billion, in keeping with an individual with data of the matter, entailed 50 new episodes of “South Park” and unique streaming rights to the present.
Ellison is betting that “South Park,” together with its again catalog of lots of of episodes, will assist develop the Paramount+ streaming service.
As for the present’s cruel depictions of Trump in mattress with Satan, and many others., Ellison mentioned he hadn’t watched Wednesday night time’s new episode but, thereby avoiding discussing the political nature of the satire.
Because “South Park” premieres on a cable channel and streams on a digital service, it isn’t topic to the federal government regulatory scrutiny that applies to broadcasters.
The Trump administration was particularly concerned in reviewing the Paramount-Skydance deal as a result of Paramount owns CBS stations which might be licensed by the FCC.
Ellison’s administration workforce made quite a lot of commitments to the FCC, together with the hiring of an ombudsman at CBS to assessment expenses of bias.
Earlier this week, FCC chair Brendan Carr, a Trump loyalist, mentioned that he nonetheless has an open case involving CBS — a “news distortion” criticism that was leveled towards “60 Minutes.”
In different phrases, the administration nonetheless has at the very least one technique to train energy over Paramount, even after the corporate struck a settlement with Trump.