‘New Girl’ Leaving Netflix After a Decade for Hulu, Peacock; What Could This Mean for Hulu’s Future?

Who’s that girl? Well, Netflix may not have the answer to that question anymore. “New Girl,” one of the most popular sitcoms of the last decade, has left the service after nearly ten years. From now on, the Zoey Deschanel-led series will be available to stream on Peacock and Hulu. The show will debut on those services April 17, and will be leaving Netflix April 9.

The series follows Jess Day (Deschanel), who needs a place to stay after a particularly bad breakup. She finds a fantastic loft, but she’ll have to put up with three guy roommates in order to live there. Nick (Jake Johnson) is the most down-to-earth of the group, Schmidt (Max Greenfield) is the very definition of “extra,” while Winston (Lamorne Morris) tries to figure out his next life moves after his athletic career ends. Jess also gets a little extra support from her childhood best friend Cece (Hannah Simone).

It’s somewhat surprising that Netflix was willing to let “New Girl” go. The world’s largest streaming service housed the series for a long time, and it clearly saw the value in having it. In May 2022, Netflix informed creators that it was interested in developing new shows like “New Girl.” While the reason for the move was not confirmed, it’s likely that Netflix wanted to keep the series on its platform, but the rights holders were either ready to move on or wanted more money than the streamer was willing to pay.

New Girl

September 20, 2011

Jessica Day is an offbeat and adorable girl in her late 20s who, after a bad breakup, moves in with three single guys. Goofy, positive, vulnerable and honest to a fault, Jess has faith in people, even when she shouldn’t. Although she’s dorky and awkward, she’s comfortable in her own skin. More prone to friendships with women, she’s not used to hanging with the boys—especially at home.

The series originally aired on FOX from 2011-18, so Hulu is a natural home for it. Fox owned a 33% stake in Hulu until 2019, when Disney acquired the majority of the company’s assets. Fox still has a good working relationship with the streamer, however, as it recently renewed its deal to show next-day streams of FOX primetime series on Hulu.

Could the migration of “New Girl” provide users any hints as to the future of Hulu? It seems that all options are currently on the table for the general entertainment service. Disney, which currently owns two-thirds of Hulu, could buy the remaining third of the company from Comcast before the end of 2024. If it decides to buy, Comcast must sell, but Disney’s massive quarterly streaming losses have led the House of Mouse to consider selling its shares in Hulu instead of buying more.

Comcast, of course, owns NBCUniversal and its streaming service Peacock, which will share the streaming rights to “New Girl” with Hulu. That company has signaled it is open to multiple possibilities in regards to Hulu, so could this move indicate that it might have interest in acquiring a majority stake in the streamer?

It depends on which Comcast employees you ask. Company CEO Brian Roberts stated last September that the company would be interested in owning all of Hulu if it were for sale, but NBCUniversal chairman Jeff Shell cast doubt on whether he saw that as a possibility in October.

FOX CEO Lachlan Murdoch has expressed his company's interest in making a splashy acquisition or two in the near future, so it can’t be counted out in the discussion either. The shift of another FOX series to Hulu could indicate the network is ramping up to make a major play for the streamer, but as noted above, all options are still on the table.

The future of Hulu is in flux, but the future of “New Girl” is at least decided. As of now, users have their choice to stream it on Peacock and Hulu.