'Friends' is Definitely Leaving Netflix, Will Find New Home with 'Game of Thrones'
by EG
The exodus of content from Netflix continues, as Friends, one of the streamers most reliable titles, is headed to a new streaming service. Other favorites such as Riverdale are leaving, too. Read on for details.
It's official: Friends is moving from Netflix to WarnerMedia's streaming service, now officially called HBO Max.
HBO Max will also be the new streaming home for all fare from The CW (which was previously housed at Netflix), as well as original feature films from prolific producer Greg Berlanti and Reese Witherspoon. HBO Max is set to launch in spring 2020 and will debut with 10,000 hours of premium content. Sources say WarnerMedia paid $85 million per year for five years ($425 million total) to land Friends for its own service, outbidding Netflix for the ensemble comedy starring Jennifer Aniston. Netflix on Tuesday responded to the news with a tweet.
"HBO Max will bring together the perse riches of WarnerMedia to create programming and user experiences not seen before in a streaming platform. HBO’s world-class programming leads the way, the quality of which will be the guiding principle for our new array of Max Originals, our exciting acquisitions, and the very best of the Warner Bros. libraries, starting with the phenomenon that is Friends," Robert Greenblatt, chairman, WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer, said in a statement. "Under the leadership of two of the strongest creative visionaries — Casey Bloys (HBO) and Kevin Reilly (original content and acquisitions) — and two of the most experienced digital experts, Tony Goncalves and Andy Forssell, I have no doubt they and their dedicated teams will deliver the world’s best storytelling to audiences of all ages wherever and whenever they want it."
HBO Max will also be the exclusive streaming home for all episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, as well as Pretty Little Liars. Those will join all HBO current series and library content including Game of Thrones and The CW originals starting with Batwoman and Riverdale spinoff Katy Keene. All of those series, as well as Friends, are produced by Warner Bros. TV. The CW's streaming deal with Netflix expired in May. Current CW series already streaming on Netflix (like Riverdale and The Flash) will continue to do so until they wrap their runs. (To be clear, Batwoman and Katy Keene will not be available on HBO Max until 30 days prior to the next seasons; Netflix landed current seasons eight days after a finale aired.)
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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