The popular medical drama ER will definitely not be coming to Netflix. After months, if not years of waiting, ER had never had a streaming home but a new exclusive deal with Hulu means that Netflix won’t be getting the series for the foreseeable future.
Netflix has been in desperate need of some new medical dramas especially since House MD left Netflix thanks to Fox pulling out of the service. The NBC medical drama which spanned over 300 episodes would’ve been a great fit for Netflix. After years of uncertainty of the shows streaming future. The show was picked up by Hulu last week.
NBC and Netflix have a pretty good working relationship having secured recent rights to the show Taken. They also managed to scoop up every season of Friends on both Netflix US and Netflix UK in the past few years.
Why did it land on Hulu? The answer is usually about money which is definitely going to be the case for ER too. NBC has a mutual stake in Hulu as one of the part owners. The likely scenario is that Netflix and Amazon had the chance to bid but didn’t offer the right amount. As a result, the series lands on Hulu by default.
Why didn’t Netflix offer enough money? Again, we’re speculating but Netflix has to fork out a lot of money shows. They’ve also given a preference in recent years of choosing newer series to bid for as they’re more relevant which means they’re more likely to have a good return on investment.
Alternatives to ER on Netflix
There are only a few medical dramas to now chose from on Netflix. Grey’s Anatomy remains the biggest show on Netflix which comes from ABC. New seasons come to Netflix every summer. Its spinoff Private Practice is also on Netflix. Scrubs used to be on Netflix before also getting removed. Other alternatives include Hart of Dixie, The Night Shift, Nurse Jackie and Emily Owens.
