South Park has been at the center of a bitter fight between Paramount and Warner Bros. for years. The problem began when Warner Bros. paid lots of money for exclusive streaming rights to the series.Later, Paramount made a new deal for movies and specials that went to Paramount+ instead. This upset Warner Bros. and led to a major lawsuit over broken promises and missing episodes.A planned sale of Warner Bros. to Paramount could now change everything. If both companies become one company, the legal battle would lose its purpose, and the TV show could finally have a clear streaming future.Read more about the story.How did the dispute start?The show's legal battle began after a 2019 deal between Warner Bros. and Paramount for streaming rights. Warner Bros. paid around 500 million dollars to stream the show's library and three new seasons on HBO Max. According to the arrangement, Warner Bros. would have exclusive access to new episodes of this animated series.During the pandemic, production was poor, and few episodes were released. Simultaneously, Paramount co-produced new South Park specials and movies on Paramount+. Warner Bros. claims this move broke the deal and kept its promise to keep the show's content away from its platform.Contracts & courtroom dramaWarner Bros. argues that Paramount and South Park Digital Studios unfairly split the content to help Paramount+. Warner Bros. claims it was promised 30 new South Park episodes for HBO Max, but has received only 14 or fewer so far. It claims the other content was labeled as specials or events and sent to Paramount+ instead. HBO Max expressed,"We believe that Paramount and South Park Digital Studios embarked on a multi-year scheme of unfair trade practices and deception, flagrantly and repeatedly breaching our contract, which clearly gave HBO Max exclusive streaming rights to the existing library and new content from the popular animated comedy South Park.”Paramount denies this and says the contract never guaranteed a fixed number of episodes in each season. The spokesperson of the company said to Deadline,“We believe these claims are without merit and look forward to demonstrating so through the legal process.”The spokesperson also said,"Paramount continues to adhere to the parties’ contract by delivering new South Park episodes to HBO Max, although Warner Bros Discovery has failed and refused to pay license fees that it owes to Paramount for episodes that have already been delivered, and which HBO Max continues to stream."Paramount also reports that $10 million in unpaid fees is still owed to Warner Bros. Both sides accuse the other of breaching the agreement and seek hefty monetary damages in court.How does a merger end the fight? View this post on Instagram Instagram PostIf Paramount buys Warner Bros., the show's dispute could end very quickly. Right now, Paramount and Warner Bros. are on opposite sides of the show's lawsuit. If Paramount bought Warner Bros., the two companies would merge rather than compete.A single owner would control both the HBO Max rights and the Paramount+ plans for the show. The company could drop the lawsuit and settle all money claims within its own books. The merger would also allow Paramount and Warner Bros. to create a unified streaming strategy for animated series, putting an end to the convoluted tug-of-war over where the shows and specials go.Follow Soap Central for more updates!