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On Monday, rumors swirled that Friends would be leaving Netflix on January 1, and fans went absolutely ballistic. By the afternoon, the Friends-induced chaos had gotten so great that Netflix was forced to release a brief statement assuring fans that the beloved sitcom would be available to stream “throughout 2019.” According to a report from The Wall Street Journal‘s Joe Flint, Netflix’s late-day announcement was the result of a new deal with WarnerMedia that gives the platform exclusive streaming rights to Friends for 2019. Long story short, Friends is staying on Netflix, so no need to turn your December into The One with the Binge-Watch.
Under the new deal, the final terms of which are still being negotiated, Netflix will “be the exclusive streaming home of Friends for 2019.” WSJ reports that after 2019, WarnerMedia can either put the sitcom exclusively on its streaming service (the platform is expected to launch late next year) or share the streaming rights with Netflix. For many fans — especially those who threatened to cancel their Netflix subscriptions if Friends leaves — the second option would be preferable: who wants to shell out more money for another streaming service?
According to The New York Times, Netflix payed a pretty penny to keep Friends on its service through 2019. Edmund Lee reports that the streaming giant will pay $100 million to continue licensing Friends from WarnerMedia, a sum that amounts to over $423,000 per episode. Until now, Netflix has only (only! ha!) spent about $30 million per year on Friends, so the $100 million payment makes it clear that the streamer isn’t messing around when it comes to keeping the sitcom in its vast library.
If Netflix and WarnerMedia agree to co-distribute Friends after 2019, it could end up being beneficial to both parties. Yes, Netflix just paid a massive sum to keep the sitcom, but if the streamer shares exclusivity rights, the amount owed to Warner is likely to decrease. That leaves Netflix with more money for other things, like creating weird marketing campaigns for Stranger Things. But that being said, WarnerMedia will still make something (and likely a lot of somethings) off Friends, which could help fund their future original projects. If Warner wants to compete with the likes of Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu in the awards race, they’re going to need a lot of cash, and letting Netflix have Friends seems like an easy way to get it.
Still not convinced that Friends may be staying on Netflix past 2019? Let AT&T’s chief executive, Randall Stephenson, sway you. “When you have premium content, distribution is everything,” he said in November. “And broad and wide distribution is something I feel very strongly about. And so do I care if Friends is shown on Netflix and on a Warner Media SVOD service? Probably not.”
Let’s hope that “probably not” turns into a “definitely not,” because we don’t want to live in a world where Friends isn’t on Netflix.
Note: This article has been updated to reflect new information from The New York Times.
