Friends – Picture: Warner Brothers Television
Netflix is set to lose Friends in more regions in January 2022 as the license for the show comes up for renewal and Warner Brothers Television opting to not renew.
Produced between 1994 and 2004, the American sitcom is perhaps one of the most beloved in the genre with over 236 episodes released in total. The series has been strongly associated with Netflix in recent years with it having streamed on Netflix in most regions around the world at one point or another over the past 5 to 10 years.
Netflix US was the first major country to lose the NBC sitcom in January 2020 with Netflix Canada losing the series in December 2020.
Now, the sitcom is set to depart Netflix in more regions in the new year.
What regions are losing Friends in January 2022?
Among the regions currently showing removal dates for Friends for January 1st, 2022 include:
- Israel
- Turkey
- Greece
- Japan
- The Netherlands
- Malaysia
- Lithuania
- South Korea
The show looks like it’ll remain on Netflix in Asian regions such as India, Malaysia, and the Philippines for a while longer.
Where will Friends stream next? Well, in most instances, you’ll be needing to either get an HBO Max subscription or wait until the service hits your country. HBO Max has been slowly rolling out around the globe over the past couple of years.
Will Friends leave Netflix Australia and the United Kingdom?
Removal dates aren’t currently showing on Netflix in the United Kingdom or Australia.
The UK, Germany, and Italy won’t have HBO Max until at least 2025 so we could see Friends remain on Netflix there for a while longer yet.
Is Friends a big pull for HBO Max? Sadly, we’ve had no insights into this from Warner Brothers officially. There was some third party around the time of Friends: The Reunion was added to service saying that it was on par with Wonder Woman: 1984 but frankly, take any data like that with a pinch of salt.
Data from IMDbPRO suggests the show is losing popularity in the final months after a surge in popularity over the summer with the Reunion released. Google Trends also suggests interest has dipped too.
Will you be losing Friends in January 2022? Let us know in the comments down below.