Friends – Picture: Warner Brothers
Friends is set to leave Netflix in January 2020 but not everywhere. In fact, only Netflix in the United States is set to lose all ten seasons come January 2020. Here’s a full breakdown of all the regions not scheduled to lose Friends but why that may not last forever.
Friends is one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time, naturally making it one of the most-watched series on Netflix. The streaming service understood the importance of trying to keep Friends on its US library when it was reported that they paid Warner $100 million to keep Friends on Netflix US for one further year. As Netflix licenses Friends across dozens of regions around the world, you can only imagine how much that must cost every year.
Which regions are keeping friends on Netflix?
The easiest answer is all of them, except the United States.
Every region outside the US will be keeping Friends on Netflix for the time being. It’s worth noting that HBO Max is planning global expansion meaning Netflix could lose the license in more regions in future years.
The full list of regions keeping Netflix is as follows:
| Region | First Arrived on Netflix |
|---|---|
| Argentina | 14/04/2015 |
| Belgium | 15/10/2015 |
| Brazil | 14/04/2015 |
| Canada | 14/04/2015 |
| Czech Republic | 01/01/2018 |
| France | 15/10/2015 |
| Greece | 02/10/2018 |
| Hong Kong | 01/01/2018 |
| Hungary | 07/08/2019 |
| Iceland | 07/01/2016 |
| India | 01/04/2019 |
| Israel | 14/11/2016 |
| Italy | 14/06/2019 |
| Japan | 02/10/2019 |
| Lithuania | 01/01/2018 |
| Mexico | 14/04/2015 |
| Netherlands | 01/01/2018 |
| Poland | 01/01/2018 |
| Portugal | 01/07/2016 |
| Romania | 27/09/2018 |
| Russia | 02/01/2018 |
| Singapore | 01/01/2018 |
| Slovakia | 14/02/2014 |
| South Africa | 10/10/2018 |
| South Korea | 01/10/2018 |
| Spain | 01/07/2016 |
| Sweden | 14/04/2015 |
| Switzerland | 15/10/2015 |
| Thailand | 21/06/2019 |
| Turkey | 17/10/2019 |
| United Kingdom | 01/01/2018 |
Please Note: If your region has is not in the table above, this is because the sites we have used for this article have not covered your region.
When will Friends leave Netflix?
Friends is already scheduled to leave Netflix US on the 1st of January, 2020, but the series as we mentioned, it may happen in other regions further down the line.
In the United Kingdom, Sky TV and HBO recently renewed their contract for Sky to receive exclusive access to the latest HBO shows. While we know that Friends was not produced by HBO, it still falls under the Warner Brothers banner. If and when the Friends license runs out for Netflix UK, a natural home would be Sky’s NowTV although we haven’t heard of that happening as of yet.
This is something Netflix UK has been keen to point out on social media over the years.
how many times we need to tell you Friends isn't leaving pic.twitter.com/nNgV6YW7aq
— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) February 13, 2019
For the foreseeable future, Netflix Canada will have continued access to Friends. Friends could eventually go to the Bell Media streaming service Crave who is getting all HBO Max content in the future.
Friends isn’t currently available to stream Netflix Australia as it resides on Stan.
For Latin American countries, HBO Max will gradually make its way across the regions with localized versions throughout 2020 which could mean reasons to move Friends. As for mainland Europe, HBO, and thus, Warner will continue to work with its licensing partners such as Sky in countries like Germany and Italy. Other regions in the continent will be receiving a localized version of HBO Max. What this means for Friends is that once the license with Netflix runs out in your region, look to the provider that has licensed Warner content such as HBO Max or Sky.
Subscribers can rest easy for now. We’re yet to hear any news that Friends is leaving Netflix anywhere other than the United States.
Are you happy to see Friends stay on your Netflix region? Let us know in the comments below.
