(Editor’s Note: Netflix confirmed in July 2019 thatFriendswillleave the streaming servicein early 2020, with fellow sitcomThe Officealsoleaving the service in 2021.)
According to the original report on theFriendsdeal, the show’s presence on Netflix isn’t guaranteed beyond 2019 in the new deal, and maybe more importantly, it isn’t exclusive. That means Netflix might not be the only streaming service to offer the series next year, and might not offer it at all in 2020 and beyond — which certainly won’t inspire a lot of confidence in Netflix-subscribing fans of the series.
Asmore streaming services emergefrom multiple entities in the media landscape, these types of shifts are becoming increasingly commonplace, too.
Most recently, Disney and Netflix were unable to reach an agreement to continue collaborating on the latter’s popular, interconnected series set in Marvel Studios’ cinematic universe,leading to the cancellationofIron Fist,Luke Cage, and the show that started it all (and the best-reviewed of the bunch),Daredevil. The shows — which were launched at a time when the streaming service was desperate for original content, but were never wholly owned by Netflix — finally reached a point where they were no longer mutually beneficial now that Disney has its own streaming service in the works andNetflix has plenty of in-house hits(such asStranger Things, for example).
Fans of the Marvel shows, however, have been decidedly less sympathetic to the reasons behind the decision to end the shows.
As the streaming landscape becomes more bifurcated and partitioned, they won’t be alone, either.
Research has indicated that this shift has already led to anincrease in torrenting and other illegal download activityas the number of streaming services grows and content becomes more exclusive to particular services, suggesting that audiences are not only looking at higher costs to access content that was once widely available, but studios will likely be feeling more of a pinch from piracy. The push to divide up the media landscape doesn’t show any signs of slowing down, though, so there’s a good chance that all of that piracy — and the various deals made by services to retain licensed content — will just be more costs passed on to law-abiding viewers of all those movies and television shows.
In the end, Netflix paying $100 million for another year ofFriendsmight be a relatively small price to pay in comparison to what the average viewer might have to cough up for streaming access to their favorite shows and movies a year or two from now. The beginning of the end of streaming’s golden age, it seems, is upon us.
Updated on June 13, 2025: Added confirmation that Friends will be leaving Netflix in early 2020.
