Picture Credits: CBS / NBC
If you’re midway through a binge of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation or Law and Order: Special Victims Unit on Netflix – you’ll want hurry up with both shows set to make their departures in the coming weeks.
Note: These removals apply to all regions except the United States, where neither of these shows has been available for a number of years.
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit is the first to leave Netflix. The NBC series that began airing all the way back in 1999 (yes, over 25 years ago) is one of the many Dick Wolf series that still continue to do well on the network. Netflix US did stream the series throughout the 2010s, getting up to season 18 before the show bled off of Netflix throughout 2018.
Netflix in international regions was treated to a handful of seasons last February 2024, as we first reported. Netflix has five seasons in total (adding seasons 6 through 11), totaling 110 episodes in all. Of course, it’s missing all those earlier seasons and seasons 12 through 26 with those being locked to other providers in most regions.
A removal notice now states your last day to watch Law & Order is February 14th, with all episodes getting removed on February 15th.
Screen Capture: Netflix
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was similarly only uploaded in a stranger order, with seasons 10 through 15 added, totaling 129 episodes. All six seasons of CSI are leaving Netflix globally on March 1st, with your last day to watch is February 28th.
Their availability is not unlike how NCIS now streams on Netflix in the United States. That series saw earlier seasons depart last year (although a few did return recently) with the likely conclusion Netflix is making that given it’s a procedural; it doesn’t matter as much where you start. That said, the series did slip quite a bit on Nielsen’s end-of-year ratings for the US, but that’s getting off track.
Although we’ve seen an explosion in licensing to Netflix in all countries in recent years, many, like these two shows, are only on short single-year licenses. Although they could be renewed, there’s no indication that this is happening, given that both display removal notices within the Netflix app and website.
Looking at the Netflix Engagement Reports (covering the viewership of January to June 2024), both shows performed relatively well, although Law & Order got far more viewing hours than CSI. Law & Order secured 25.20 million views (394.50 million viewing hours), while CSI did 10.70 million views (169 million viewing hours) in that period.
Are you disappointed Netflix is removing these two shows soon? Let us know in the comments.
