Along with thousands of diehard Friends fans, I am absolutely gutted to hear that Netflix will stop streaming Friends from January 2019.
Could I BE anymore upset? No!
Netflix paid a huge $118 million for the streaming rights of Friends and they had to digitally remaster every single episode for HD streaming capabilities. But, today is a sad day, as they announce it will stream no more.
It seems we'll be able to watch our six favourite friends on WarnerMedia’s new streaming platform, which is due to launch at the end of 2019. This isn't too surprising as the show is actually owned by Warner Brothers, and having exclusive rights to stream the US's third most popular TV show will be a major hook.
The battle over content continues as more and more services enter the streaming war.
Disney are also launching their own streaming service in 2019 called Disney+, and Netflix have already seen the effects, cancelling 3 of its 5 Marvel shows in the last two months.
Whilst they fight it out, I think I will revert back to my trusty DVD box-sets, and giggle along to all of the lobsters, transpondsters and crap bags, albeit with a tiny tear in my eye.
Come back, soon, friends!
Brace yourselves, Netflix subscribers—Friends won’t be there for you much longer. Back in 2014, Netflix announced probably its biggest TV series acquisition thus far, revealing that all 10 seasons of Friends would be streaming exclusively on Netflix. This came as great news for the show’s legion of fans but it didn’t come cheap—Netflix had to pay a whopping $118 million for the streaming rights. But it paid off. But all good things must come to an end, if somewhat abruptly. According to Netflix, Friends will leave the streaming service on January 1, 2019, which gives you just under a month to watch all your favorite episodes again. With over 230 installments in total, that’s not exactly an easy task.