Forget Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?, the internet’s newest craze if Where in the Worlds is Friends Streaming? Because, apparently, it’s not where we thought. Back in December, I reported on the Netflix payout to extend its Friends deal with the gasp-inducing price tag of $100M. Now, just eight months later, I am reporting that HBO has landed the exclusive streaming deal for Friends to the tune of $425M or $85M a year for five years. WarnerMedia will launch HBO Max in 2020. Not only is this where we will find our Friends, but also Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Pretty Little Liars, Batwoman and the Riverdale spinoff Katy Keene, as well as the whole library of HBO series and movies.
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.
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.)
The Friends move from Netflix was expected after the streaming giant paid producers Warners $80 million to $100 million to continue to have the former NBC hit for all of 2019. The show will move to HBO Max when that deal expires at the start of 2020. WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks president Reilly strongly indicated back in February that Friends would be pulled from Netflix and moved to the streaming platform when he noted that “it’s not a good model to share.”
HBO Max will also feature library content from WarnerMedia outlets, including features from Warner Bros, New Line, DC Entertainment, CNN, TNT, TBS, TruTV, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and more. HBO series set to stream on the new service include the upcoming entries Watchmen, The Outsider (from Stephen King), J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peele’s Lovecraft Country, Joss Whedon’s The Nevers, David Simon’s The Plot Against America and veteran offerings like Issa Rae’s Insecure.
It took me a few reads of this article to sort this deal out and even now, I’m not sure I fully grasp it. So the $100M deal Netflix had for Friends was solely for 2019. I guess I assumed $100M would buy them a little more than that. As you know I love Friends but these numbers are absurd amounts of cash for any show. Losing Friends isn’t the only hit Netflix has taken, they were outbid on The Office rights as well. The Office and Friends were the number one and two streamed shows respectfully. Youch. They are taking it gracefully, though. On Tuesday, they tweeted their goodbye:
The One Where We Have To Say Goodbye.
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 US (@netflix) July 9, 2019
As for The Office, NBCUniversal won that round for $100M-per-year for five years. No wonder no one is doing any original stuff, they make too much just replaying the old stuff. My head is starting to hurt trying to figure out all the new streaming options. I have no idea which ones to choose. I have HBOGo, Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime. However, I also relied on the stations for their online content, but those are moving behind paywalls now and so far, I’m refusing to pay. And then there’s Apple’s streaming with the Jennifer Aniston/Reese Witherspoon show I’m looking forward to. Fortunately, it looks like I don’t have to worry about all this for a few more months and by then, I’m sure someone will have done a side-by-side comparison to inform what the hell I should watch.
#Watched The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air S03E10 pic.twitter.com/wb4ZMwHTZR
— Lovely Séries (@LovelySeriies) July 7, 2019
Photo credit: WENN Photos, Twitter and Getty Images
Courtney Cox was beautiful.
All these streaming services are getting out of hand! How is it cheaper or life simplifying if I have to subscribe to 10 different ones each month just to watch my favorite shows? I’m starting to digitally purchase the series I love and watch a ton because, frankly, I’m not willing to part with the cash it would cost to follow them from streaming service to streaming service.
Yes, I read a really interesting Guardian article about this a couple of weeks ago, about how there are going to be SO many streaming services. I only just managed to sign up for Spotify which is a tenner a month, Netflix which is almost 10 pounds, we have my SIL’s log in to Sky and even then we’re not really managing to find the time to consume all they have to offer. I’m absolutely not signing up to anything else. I’m just gutted it’s going to make a really odd market for a while. I’m most angry about BBC and ITV putting their older content on a streaming service – almost everyone in the UK has to have a TV licence at over 100 pounds a year – we’ve paid for it already and now they want us to pay to stream it again!?! No ways.
I have modern life fatigue. I’m going to get back to my veggie patch now.
I just have Amazon Prime permanently and cycle in one new channel a month. This month is BritBox and next month I’ll switch to Netflix for the new season of Mindhunter.
This is what we do too. A couple months of Netflix, cancel. A couple months of hbo, cancel. A month of Hulu, cancel. Rinse, repeat. I’m waiting for the companies to figure it out and start making people sign up for year subscriptions. That will suck.
I’m in a non-Netflix period. I was watching for the sake of watching, like a bad habit. I’ll resubscribe when something must-see comes along. To be honest I only really miss watching the Joy Of Bob Ross show.
I’m mostly just mad that apparently I’m going to need another streaming service. This is in addition to HBO? Just having HBO isn’t enough for this?
We currently only have Netflix and Amazon (which I don’t really count, we pay for that for the shipping), but we also still have cable. We can watch a lot of the network shows with our cable log-in, once in a while CBS will block us and try to get us to buy their All Access, which I’m not doing.
It’s getting to the point where its just….ridiculous. But I don’t think that makes any difference to anyone.
In addition to normal HBO, there’s HBO Go and HBO Now. I don’t get it.
Those I understand, but I get them confused. One is just the name of their app/streaming if you already have HBO. Like, we have HBO with our cable provider, so I can use HBOGo (I think that’s it) on my phone or on another TV that doesn’t have cable by logging in with my cable provider. HBO Now is a separate streaming service for people who don’t otherwise have HBO. (or I may have flipped them.) So is HBO Max going to be different from those? or is just replacing one of them?
In Canada, HBO’s whole back catalogue and new shows are already on a local streaming service called Crave and it’s great because they also have all of Showtime and a bunch of great shit because I guess Americans don’t care about the Canadian market and were like “Meh”. God help us if they discover how good out deal is. I WILL NOT PAY MORE MORE SHIT.
People still watch that?????
Where have you been?! My nieces and nephews and their friends (all younger Millennials or late teens) are obsessed!
Yeah! I was so surprised when I saw my 18yo niece tweeting Friends memes. I asked her about it, and it ends up she and all of her friends constantly netflix the show. They all love it.
I work at a college and a lot of my students LOVE Friends. Like, will say it’s their favorite TV show. I re-watch it now and I don’t get it but w/e.
My 20 year old daughter and her friends are huge fans. She wasn’t born when the show started.
All of the 22 year olds at my office know every episode by heart. They quote it all of the time, and I never watched it, so I am totally out of the loop. It is an odd feeling that they know something from my teen years better than I do!
I really find it hasn’t aged well though.
Same here. Chandler’s treatment of his father would be extremely problematic today
it actually helped pave the way
to normalize what was then not seen or heard
and broaden perspectives
im 42 and i remember what a big deal it was in tv for ross’ ex to be a lesbian…for chandlers dad to be wildly openly gay…and the list doesn’t end there
but im not going to write you a reason to be less meh about it
people forget how diff the tv landscape was …1994 it started…anyway,
it holds up and rings true enough for many
its nostalgic for others
and its less complicated and certainly less violent than everything out there
i love it to the core and will continue to enjoy it like comfort food or a lullaby for years to come
It is extremely popular. A whole new generation is watching it now.
I watch it for nostalgia and background noise. Like, if I am doing some cleaning, I’ll put on a few episodes. I also like being able to pick the exact episode I like, since some of them I hate and wont watch. I Love “the one where everybody finds out.” Joey, you cant say anything!! Even if I wanted to!
They don’t know that we know that they know!
That is absolutely my favorite episode. I can watch it over and over, it is perfection from beginning to end.
It’s still on 2 hours a day on TBS in syndication. It’s always in the Popular section on Netflix. People really love it.
Which surprises me because the homophobia “jokes” are so bad throughout the seasons. You’d think this younger generation would be like no, this isn’t funny. Then again, I watched I Love Lucy even though I found their relationship terrible.
I agree it hasn’t aged well. I loved it in the 90’s when it was “Must see tv” and, along with Seinfeld, a true water cooler television show. But I don’t watch it now. The big bang theory is my comfort show for background noise. And let’s be honest, that’s got its own issues. (though I would argue only its earlier seasons) Anyway, I was just stating the facts; Friends is hugely popular with the young people today, what can I tell you. They love it, they quote it, they binge it.
I never got to watch due to grunt at school at night so I watch reruns. And it is all the rage amount 20 year olds is what I have heard.
I have a lot of my favorite shows and movies on DVD specifically for this reason. a lot of people scoff and say it’s all on streaming now, but the fact is that you own nothing with streaming stuff (even if you technically “buy” it) because it’s all dependent on that streaming network continuing to own the rights.
that being said, I have Hulu with the HBO add-on, Amazon prime, and Netflix, and that’s all I’m willing to buy. I’m still paying for cable because no one has figure it out how to let people scream all of the football and baseball games yet. That’s only streaming service I would consider adding on, because that would allow me to cut my cable bill off.
This is why I bought the complete box set of Downton Abbey and Inspector Lewis.
To all my Anglophile friends….Does anyone subscribe to streaming service “BritBox”? I currently subscribe to Acorn TV but am very much ticked-off that that Acorn TV has yet to post season 20 of Midsomer Murders. I am thinking of switching to BritBox. Opinions and reviews will be welcomed.
I have YouTube tv on which we watch Amazon prime and Netflix. I was so upset when I found out Midsomer Murders switched to ANOTHER streaming service for season 20. For sure the same thing will happen with latest season Father Brown. So I watched them both on DailyMotion.com for free. Yell if you want but I paid enough to watch these shows and I’m unwilling to pay more just because they switched to another streaming service. It has definitely gotten out of hand.
I only stay with Acorn TV because of Doc Martin.
In a year the newest season of Father Brown will be broadcast on my local PBS station on Sunday nights as lead in to Masterpiece Classic.
Thank God for Dailymotion.
Who is still watching Friends??
Enough people that it’s their most watched show, whoever those people are.
My teenager binge-watched Friends and the Golden Girls. Go figure…
My god, next millenials will be binge watching Who’s The Boss, Alf, Family Ties or The Nanny.
I watched an episode of Friends the other day after a decade hiatus, and the jokes were bad, so very bad.
Younger millennials (and Generation Z) who were too young (or not even born) to watch the first go round.
It’s my comfort show, the one I put on when I want to have something on in the background while I get ready (since I’ve seen every episode a hundred times). Mostly it’s so I don’t spend 2 hours scrolling through Netflix and have to actually pick something lol.
White people.
This is getting stupid. Do NBCUNIVERSAL and WarnerMedia think people subscribe to Netflix just go watch Friends and The Office? And are going to subscribe to their service just to watch them? Do they realize most people use those shows as background noise or Ambien?
I am a bit confused as to how HBO Max will work. Will it replace HBONow? Or be offered in addition to it?
I also think they are a little late with this launch. I think they should have launched this spring to capitalize on GOT last season extreme popularity.
On a tight budget so just have HD antenna for local and stream Amazon. The stations mostly show paid ads for weird crap in the daytime hours and just prime shows at night. But its free.
Same, only we do Netflix as well. That’s what we watch most.
Do the actors get a cut of these streaming deals?
I’m curious about that too. I assume they got residuals when it played on network tv but does the same deal count towards streaming services?
Per an article on this in 2018. The cast each got $20 million a year for the netflix deal.
I feel like they don’t, do you remember how they all got a $1m per episode of that find season in ?2004? was it ? I think they took the one off pay offs but I could be wrong…. none of them seem to need to work anymore so perhaps they are getting a kickback
I remember reading somewhere years ago that Jennifer Aniston (this article was about her) got several million a year just from Friends reruns.
$1M is the amount to film the episode. It doesn’t include residuals.
They do.
Good for them! A bit like Harrison Ford opted to have a percentage of future earnings from Star Wars
SAG-AFTRA (the actor’s union) negotiated with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers that actors will have to be paid residuals when their work streams, but I believe the rate at which they are paid varies by contract.
If an actor is in something that is created just for streaming (aka “new media”), the rules are different.
“Residuals will be due for use in new media only if an original, made for new media program’s final total cost, as exhibited, is $25,000 or more per minute and it is exhibited on a consumer-pay-platform beyond 26 weeks.”
They can create all the streaming services they want. I have Netflix and Amazon Prime. That’s all I can handle. Unless you are home all day doing nothing you can’t possibly watch all the content on any of the services. And I refuse to pay for multiple services for one or 2 shows. I have Prime for the shopping, and the bonus is movies/shows and music. I work and leave the house. Who has time to watch that much TV.
Amazon Prime has so much content it is unbelievable.
YES! I “only” have Amazon Prime and no idea when to watch the shows I’m interested in.
I have the same problem with the Smithsonian Channel, Sundance Channel and the El Rey network. I can never find long term listings so I can plan when to watch.
The cost of all of these services is ridiculous and there’s no way half of them stay up and running for long. People moved to streaming to avoid complications and to avoid the cost of cable.
And like someone above me said, 99% of people aren’t going to use a separate streaming app for one show, like The Office or Friends and I’m not sure the apps offer much else that’s worthwhile.
We have Hulu +live tv (which includes locals-we cut the cord on cable 2 years ago) and Netflix. That’s all we need.
Do you miss MSNBC? LOL! LOL! I would!
BayTampaBay-we have MSNBC as part of Hulu Live Tv.
This mad rush to start a streaming service is way out of hand. I’m not going to cough up anymore money for another streaming service. I have Amazon and Netflix and cable and that’s it for me. I don’t watch that much tv anyway and it’s primarily for my family. I read recently that AMC was going to start a streaming service for horror movies. Why? At this point it’s nothing but a money grab and everyone trying to make a dent in Netflix’s domination of the streaming business. I notice Xfinity starting to bundle and offer access to different streaming services through their cable platform and honestly, I think that’s the only way a lot of these new streaming services will survive and make money. So then, what’s the point of cutting the cable cord?
Also, I guess it escapes these companies that it’s young kids and teenagers watching these Friends and Office reruns and they’re not the ones subscribing/paying for the streaming service.
We have the big 4- hulu, amazon, hbo and netflix
Only other thing I’m adding is Disney+
I have those as well. Netflix and HBO are part of my cable package, and I pay for Hulu and Amazon with Prime.
I will not pay for any more.
Who is your cable provider? I would love to get Netflix through my cable provider.
Comcast. They’re HORRIBLE, and it’s very expensive, but my only other option here is satellite, which everyone complains about too. I will say that Comcast has a good on demand selection, and a good app that lets you watch your stuff on mobile devices.
@lucy2, I have Comcast Xfinity too! I will check out if I can get Netflix through Comcast. Thanks for the info!
@Bay I have Comcast too and called them not long ago to explore other packages because mine has gotten too expensive. I was able to get a pkg called “Signature Triple Play” that includes free basic Netflix (I pay $3 extra for the multi-screen subscription upgrade), HD tv with one premium channel of choice (I chose Showtime), about a million other channels, WiFi (250mbs which is blazing fast), and landline phone service. You can use their HD cable box which is also a DVR (and nice voice remote) and offers on-demand but I tried it and returned it because I’d rather use my TIVO (which has lifetime service so no extra expense) so they just gave me the cable card for my TIVO. I told them I didn’t want or need the landline and they said fine…so didn’t send any equipment. Because I agreed to a 2-year agreement it’s locked in at $120 a month. I was delighted about the agreement—as it locked them into that price, tbh.
Sorry for the level of detail….I just wish someone had told me sooner that I could get a much better deal with a phone call.
(Also, I share subscriptions with friends…for instance my Spotify family subscription allows up to 6 users so I share one of those slots with a friend in exchange for access to his HBO streaming subscription.)
Outrageous amount of money for an outdated show, to be honest. What they’re really trying to do is gut Netflix and consolidate their centralized power over the market, regardless if these platforms take off. Not that I feel bad for Netflix after they got outed recently for how they screw over creators – purposefully renewing shows for a season or two, then dumping them when they grow popular so they don’t have to pay the cast and creators properly. They just did it to Santa Clarita Diet and Lucifer, so miss me with any sympathy thrown their way. I’m seriously considering pulling my subscription to the service after this year because it’s the third time they’ve cancelled a show I’ve liked for no real reason. The Golden Age of television is on its way out, I’m afraid. I’ll stick to books.
I think this is unfair to Netflix. They’re far from perfect (and I can’t believe I’m about to defend a multi-billion dollar company…) but they’ve given opportunities to film and TV creatives and actors that just would not have got it elsewhere. They’ve greenlit women and POC in lead roles in movies they wouldn’t have traditionally been offered. This hopefully has a knock-on effect on the entire industry. They’ve almost single-handedly revived interest in rom-coms again – for which I for one am grateful! – and made them more diverse to boot. And while I def think it’s an issue that they lose interest in their own series after 2 or 3 seasons and barely seem to promote them in favor of shiny new content, to be fair they never reveal viewing figures (unless its for a promotional story – although we still have no way of corroborating the figures) – so for all we know Santa Clarita Diet et al could have very disappointing numbers – surely they can’t be expected to just continue to produce low-rated stuff ad nauseam? I mean – they gave it 3 seasons, WAY more than network TV would have done
They aren’t losing interest in advertising the series is the problem – it’s an intentional model designed to withhold leveraging power from creatives. Sure, they’re giving these shows an opportunity to exist, but if the model they’re utilizing is inherently exploitative (and it is), that’s not really helping anybody in the long run. A long-running series with high returns is going to generate a cast and production crew with the power to demand higher pay. Netflix doesn’t want that, so it makes sense for them to generate new hype with a series, increase subscriptions, and then dumping it before cost-sharing comes to bite them.
It’s a very distinct model used across the industry, and this article actually outlines a lot of the reasons why the monopolization of the industry is more or less destroying the creative side: https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/the-slow-death-of-hollywood
Yes – but my point is we don’t know the viewing figures (which is both evil and genius…). We just don’t know how many people watched Santa Clarita Diet. If it’s not that high – why would they continue? If it doesn’t generate media/promo interest – like Black Mirror, for example – then why continue? And it’s not like the model you mentioned is the only way Netflix works – House of Cards and Orange in the New Black both got 6 seasons, Grace and Frankie and BoJack Horseman are on 5. A lot of the original kids programming is up there too. Other shows were created as limited series (Godless) or the creators chose when and how to end (Master of None, Kimmy Schmidt). Basically – I just don’t think it’s fair to write off Netflix in this way – although it is, of course, your prerogative! But they’re a business – and clearly they can’t afford to continue throwing money at shows and movies the way they have done previously
Veronica, this is common practice at Disney, too. They keep a show for four seasons and then cancel and make a “new” spinoff. If they let a show go 5 or more years, they have to pay network rates to cast, crew, producers, creators, etc.. happened to two of my BIL’s shows.
I never really liked Friends. I don’t like studio three cam sitcoms, they just look too unreal with the light never right.
I have HBO go (which is the streaming name for Mexico and Latin America), Netflix, Amazon Prime, and still pay cable.
It is ridiculous how platform are being released every year or so. Can they all make just one streaming service where you get all the content for a hefty monthly price?
I’d rather pay good money to have EVERYTHING rather than paying lots more for individual services.
I honestly have no idea what we have at this point. We use BIL netflix (or my moms), we have Verizon cable (I think it’s basic? Maybe we have HBO?) and Amazon Prime (but thats really for shipping purposes). I don’t care for TV – it puts me to sleep. How do people keep up!
We have Sling, Netflix and Prime.
Hardly use Prime because it’s catalogue is bad. A few originals are good, but their syndication is bad. But we’re Prime members so it’s there.
Netflix is losing all its hits. All Disney/FOX/Marvel/Lucas Films will pull out, and Friends was a huge international money maker. For all of their booming volume of original content (like 20-30 original films/seasons a month) only a couple are actually watched enough for profit. They’re burning through money.
Hulu I never liked their interface, and I was a beta test family because my dad worked for one of the broadcasters on their original service. Although I feel like I’m missing out on a show, paying a monthly fee for years for 1 show seems stupid – I’m cheap I guess.
Now there’s HBO (not Go whatever this new one is), Apple TV, Disney+ and probably more I’ve never heard of. Most likely we’ll end up ditching Netflix for Disney+ and ignore the rest.
What do you think of Sling?
It’s not bad. Still has on demand like cable. It doesn’t have ABC or CBS in case you like those (although different packages might have them just not mine). It’s about 5 seconds behind live TV (sports on phone updates first). But honestly I don’t miss my large cable package because it has the channels I use.
One thing that’s just funny is movies on demand from channels aren’t always censored. So you hear swears when you watch on demand, versus the live tv where they’re removed.
As someone who has never caught the whole “Friends” mania I’m surprised this show is still considered that profitable. I’m sure the numbers don’t lie, but really, it has been decades and so many great new shows have come out.
I feel like within the next 5-7 years one of two things will happen:
1. All of these new services will cannibalize each other’s audiences and fail to generate a profit, leading them to sell to Netflix/Disney + (Disney being the only one I can see weathering the storm, especially if they have an ESPEN option. Amazon will probably be fine as well, but their User interface is SO BAD I can’t imagine them being the default)
2. The cable companies get together and buy out Netflix, put all of the content back under one brand and start charging cable like prices. This I suspect would be highly illegal but I can also see the corporations trying it.
Disney+ is going to be top dog. Just their catalogue is crazy (especially if they pull it off every other streaming service, which sounds like they plan on doing), plus they’re adding original content with large budgets. They came to dominate.
The rest will scramble for second. I agree Prime will still be standing because it comes with prime membership, but no one likes the interface.
We have Netflix, HBOGo, and Prime. Our primary purpose for Prime is shipping, so I don’t really count that towards costs for streaming. I’ve started subscribing to things for a month at a time here and there to watch certain things I really want to watch. Like, I’ll subscribe to Starz for a month to binge watch the latest season of Outlander. We subscribed to CBS (or whatever it is) for a month to watch Star Trek Discovery. I subscribed and then canceled to whatever it was to watch A Discovery of Witches. It is disappointing that everything will be on separate services though in the near future.
I just find it ridiculous how much these companies seem to NOT get it. People are cutting the cord and streaming because they don’t want to pay astronomical fees for television. It’s like they seem to think people are opting for services Netflix and/or Hulu because they just like streaming. They genuinely don’t seem to get that people do not want to pay crazy prices. They’re all trying to roll out their OWN streaming services like we’re all going to open our wallets and pay all this extra money for multiple services that’ll only end up costing just as much or more than cable does. I hope that each and every one of these new streaming services fails horribly. It’s just so ugly how they try to take advantage.
“It’s just so ugly how they try to take advantage.”
capitalism’s raison d’être
I get it, but the cost of living just keeps growing and the US hasn’t seen a major increase in wages in 30+ years. Things are not great for many, and the expectation that everyone should be working hard to burn money on bullshit like this is ridiculous. It’s a choice, of course, but they’re hoping that they’ll have people over a barrel and I find that disgusting.
I would love to have cable again, but I cut the cord years ago and it’s too expensive. Even wifi is getting too pricey.
I caved and eventually got cable again, but I try to keep it as minimal as possible. You’re totally right about the cost of even Wifi being outrageous… these companies will always find a way to screw people. Now that many of us opt to stream, they cost of wifi continues to go up.
They can make as many different streaming services as they want. I’m not jumping on board. I have Netflix, Hulu and Prime. I can always find something to watch. Plus, I have the Netflix service where I can still get DVDs/Blu rays. They have discs of shows from other service providers, so. . .why would I get another streaming service? I can just try it out on disc, and if I like it, then just keep returning for more new discs.
I’m into finding new shows and programs. I don’t care about 20+ year old shows. I saw it the first time, I’m good. For shows I really, really like, I’ll buy it on DVD.
But 90 freaking streaming services is just out of control. I’m not doing it.
Same here. I refuse to pay for a separate streaming service to watch the new Star Trek (CBS All Access) And I’m not paying for another separate one so my husband can watch the office (which he doesn’t really pay attention to anyway, it’s just background noise). I have prime, let Netflix lapse and with all these services popping up I’m using my DVDs again and putting my name on waitlists for the others at my local library. I don’t have the money to devote to countless streaming services to watch one show apiece.
My girls are 14 and 16 and Friends is all they watch when they are not binging something else. All of their friends watch it too. My 14 year old is a super-fan, half her Instagram is Friends memes and her bedroom is decorated with a Friends theme. So I’m thinking it’s a good investment even for that insane amount of $$. Thank goodness it’s summer now and they’re taking a break…And watching The Office instead.
I’m thinking the market will get super crazy for a while with all these streaming services and in 5-10 years someone (Internet providers maybe?) will figure out how to bundle them somehow. I’m going to date myself here but when premier cable started out people paid for each channel individually, then at some point they started to all come bundled together. Still not cheap, but cheaper than paying for them one by one.
No wonder Netflix keeps pumping out original content, they are losing some of their prized possessions. I keep hoping Seinfeld will show up since it’s not on Crackle anymore and Cars and Coffee moved to Netflix.
There is no way in the world they are getting paid 20 million each for residules. People will say the craziest stuff. Parents of those teenagers influence them to watch that crap, believe me. My kids liked most programs I likes so this is why.
“There is no way in the world they are getting paid 20 million each for residules.”
True. The 2019 Netflix season cost them $100M total, so if they each got $20M…that would mean only the actors got paid. It doesn’t work that way!
Meh. I like Friends and watch it occasionally, but I’ve already got Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime for streaming. There isn’t a single show that I would add on another streaming service for, so …
Can there BE anymore streaming services?
I’ve watched this show maybe five times. I never felt any connection to the characters. I’ve never understood the hype.
It’s a very bland show but I’m assuming nostalgia (a very millennial thing apparently but also nostalgia in people who grew up in ’90s and ’00s), lack of similar 30-min sitcoms, and wide availability of streaming is why? No replacement products like these shows. 85 million is insane!
I have Netflix, Amazon prime, and Hulu
I pay .99 a month for Hulu! Watch for black Friday subscription sales.
I get cbs for a month, binge all my shows then cancel for a few months.
After about 3 months I get a email offering me a free month. I do that then cancel right before the month is up. Rinse repeat 😂
I was sick and had Friends on just for noise. I can tell you I did not laugh once. Looking back I cannot even imagine watching it. It aged so badly. If it was truly funny then it would have been a classic. The dialogue is terrible and plot lines were horrible. And I hate all of the characters. Phoebe was the best of bunch.
@Karen
It is a classic.
I just use all my ex-boyfriends’ login details for Netflix, Sling, etc. Relationships may be over but I ain’t signing out of those streaming services til they make me. LOL
Will this streaming service even be available worldwide? On Netflix many of the syndicated shows are available but I’m guessing HBO won’t be, if I even wanted to. I also started to buy my favorites on DVD as for some reason, the Christmas movies I want to watch aren’t on the streaming services I have or need to be purchased.
It’s annoying and I’m exhausted.