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It’s Official: Friends is Leaving Netflix for WarnerMedia’s Streaming Service, HBO Max

After months of speculation, WarnerMedia confirmed that the beloved Friends, will be moving to its streaming service, now officially called HBO Max.

Speculation of the move started back in January when a glitch made it appear as though the hit TV show would no longer be available on Netflix. The streaming giant however, tempered fanfare and announced that the series will be available on the platform at least through 2019.

As news of WarnerMedia’s new streaming service kept circulating—first with reports also in January that the service will be named “VergeTV” and then earlier this month that the service will be named HBO Max—it became clear that Friends will have a new home.

Today chairman, WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer, Robert Greenblatt, confirmed both pieces of information in a statement, saying, “HBO Max will bring together the diverse 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.”

Along with Friends, 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 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 The CW originals starting with Batwoman and Riverdale spinoff Katy Keene. 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.

A price is yet to be announced for HBO Max, which is set to launch in spring 2020 and will compete with Netflix, Hulu, and Disney Plus, among others.


Stephanie Sengwe is writer based in New York who covers companies in the streaming industry including AT&T, Amazon, Apple, Hulu, Roku, and Netflix . She also contributes daily news coverage on streaming services and devices for The Streamable.

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