“SOUTH PARK,” the darkly funny animated series set in a Colorado town in the United States where no one ever grows older, is set to run for 23 seasons.

    It will continue for another five years as a major cable presence and simultaneously as one of the biggest streaming properties with an extension of its Comedy Central deal together with a huge re-up of its Hulu deal. The streaming service will pay Viacom and the show’s creative team US$192 million over five years, according to sources.

    The show is about to move into its 19th season and a new deal between Comedy Central and the show’s creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, will make “South Park” the longest-running primetime scripted series in cable television history.

    When the show reaches the end of its new deal, it will have run for 23 seasons and 304 episodes. “The Simpsons” is already into its 26th season, but what makes “South Park” so impressive is that every episode since the show’s inception has been written and directed by Parker and Stone rather than by an ever changing, ever expanding writing and production team.

    “Nearly two decades later, ‘South Park’ today remains as important and influential as any series on any platform and has become one of the most recognizable brands to ever come out of television,” Comedy Central owner Viacom executive Doug Herzog said.

    Herzog added that Viacom will “aggressively expand” the reach of South Park beyond just the TV show by way of new licensing deals across the globe.

    For Hulu, “South Park” marks its biggest content deal yet — after its US$160 million pact for “Seinfeld” announced in late April and its deal with CBS for all 300 episodes of “CSI” — in its effort to build a streaming network that competes with Netflix and Amazon by acquiring major franchise television.

    Season 19 of “South Park” will premiere Sept. 16.(SD-Agencies)