Is Netflix Removing Friends? Here’s Why

| December 3, 2018 | Netflix, Top Picks | No Comments

 

Update: Netflix has shared that they will NOT be removing friends in January:

 

 

Several years back, we reported on the Netflix acquisition of NBC’s second best show of all time, ‘Friends.’

It was huge news in the streaming world, that a service like Netflix would drop a massive amount of their budget to acquire a hit sitcom, previously unavailable for streaming legally anywhere on the web.

But for anyone paying attention to December’s list of shows and movies being removed from Netflix, one big name sticks out. ‘Friends’ is slated to be removed December 31st, meaning subscribers will be starting the new year without access to one of their favorite shows on the platform.

People are probably asking why Netflix would remove ‘Friends,’ and the answer is a mix of a few reasons. First and foremost, it’s likely that the content owners of ‘Friends’ have pulled the rights away from Netflix. This leaves Netflix out in the cold when it comes to streaming the show. The other thing that might have happened is that ‘Friends’ owner Warner,  wanted more money to renew the contract for streaming rights and Netflix wasn’t willing to pay the higher price.

The news circulating on Netflix removing ‘Friends’ is that Warner plans to stream the show on their own standalone streaming service. This could draw an immediate subscriber base, of people who want to stream ‘Friends’ online legally.

This is another causality in the Netflix library, who continues to see their library dwindle as content owners pull shows and movies from the streaming library to host on their own services.