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‘The Challenge’ Will Move to Paramount+ for Season 42, With a Thailand Premiere
The Apex Times

THE APEX TIMES

Culture/The Apex Times/Jul 15, 10:09 AM EDT

‘The Challenge’ Will Move to Paramount+ for Season 42, With a Thailand Premiere

The long-running MTV reality competition series is shifting its next main installment to Paramount+ for Season 42, with contestants from prior seasons mixing with newcomers in a new location.

2 min readEditor-approved Apex article

MTV’s long-running reality competition series The Challenge is officially moving its main Season 42 run to Paramount+, Deadline reported on July 15, 2026. The announcement marks another shift in the show’s distribution footprint as the competition format continues to anchor premium streaming catalogs for ViacomCBS-affiliated brands.

Deadline said Season 42 will bring together a mix of returning veterans and newcomers competing as part of the series’ “cutthroat” style of gameplay. The season is filmed and set in Thailand, a move that continues the franchise’s pattern of rotating locations for each installment, while maintaining the core elimination and challenge structure audiences associate with the show.

The Challenge originally aired on MTV, where the competition became a fixture of cable reality programming. Over time, the franchise expanded into multiple spin-offs and platform changes, including The Challenge: All Stars, which Deadline noted premiered on Paramount+. The brand also includes a separate installment that aired on sister broadcast network CBS, reflecting how ViacomCBS has used the franchise across linear and streaming outlets.

Season 42’s Paramount+ move also continues a broader industry trend in which established reality franchises are migrated to streaming services to drive subscriptions and reduce reliance on cable carriage. For viewers, that means the audience experience will change from the prior distribution model, including where episodes land and how they are scheduled for release on Paramount+.

The announcement did not change the franchise’s basic premise, which centers on contestants competing in timed and endurance-style events while navigating alliances and eliminations to reach the end of the season. Deadline framed Season 42 as a continuation of the competition’s return-to-form mix, combining recognizable names with first-time participants.

For Paramount+, the acquisition of a major franchise season adds another tentpole reality property alongside other streaming originals, while for MTV and CBS, the move underscores that the brand’s mainline production can be assigned to different outlets within the same corporate ecosystem. For cast members, the location and format decision also indicates continued reliance on off-site production and international shoots as part of the show’s appeal.

No further casting names or additional production details were included in the report. Season 42 is expected to follow the franchise’s established release rhythm once Paramount+ begins distributing the season.

If you are a subscriber, the practical next step is to confirm where Paramount+ posts episode availability for Season 42 when the service updates its season landing pages. For cable viewers who followed the program on MTV, the shift also highlights how the show’s long-term distribution path may continue to evolve across platforms for future installments.

Why It Matters

  • The Paramount+ move changes where viewers will need to watch the next main season, shifting consumption from MTV’s cable distribution to a streaming platform.
  • For Paramount+, the addition of Season 42 strengthens its subscription catalog with an established reality franchise.
  • The Thailand setting indicates the show will continue to rely on international location production for major tentpole seasons.
  • The franchise’s multi-network and multi-streamer deployment reflects ongoing platform strategies inside the same media group, with different properties assigned to different outlets.
  • For talent and production, the platform shift can affect release timing and promotional channels even when the show format remains consistent.

Sources

Key Facts

  • Deadline reported on July 15, 2026 that The Challenge is moving its Season 42 to Paramount+.
  • Season 42 will feature a mix of veterans and newcomers competing.
  • Deadline said the season is set and filmed in Thailand.
  • The Challenge previously aired on MTV.
  • Deadline noted that The Challenge: All Stars premiered on Paramount+, and the franchise also included a version on CBS.
  • Season 42 is the next main installment under the Paramount+ distribution plan described by Deadline.
‘The Challenge’ Will Move to Paramount+ for Season 42, With a Thailand Premiere | The Apex Times