Netflix loses Friends to HBO Max streaming service set for launch in 2020
- Streaming service HBO Max, set to go live early next year, has reclaimed the rights to air the hugely popular television comedy
- Friends – which ended back in 2004 – is believed to be one of Netflix’s most-watched shows
WarnerMedia will launch its new Netflix rival “HBO Max” in early 2020 after reclaiming the rights to stream its hugely popular television comedy Friends, the company has announced.
The new service will enter an increasingly crowded television streaming marketplace, vying for customers with Netflix, Hulu and Amazon as well as the soon-to-be-launched Disney+, Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Apple’s upcoming product.
Friends – which ended back in 2004 – is believed to be one of Netflix’s most-watched shows, capturing a new generation of viewers since it was licensed by WarnerMedia to the streaming market leader in 2014.
Although Netflix rarely publishes viewership figures, it reportedly paid US$100 million to extend streaming rights by just one year for the New York-based sitcom starring Jennifer Aniston in 2018.
“We’re sorry to see Friends go to Warner’s streaming service at the beginning of 2020 [in the US]. Thanks for the memories, gang,” Netflix said Tuesday in a Twitter post labelled “The One Where We Have To Say Goodbye.”