It was a big deal when Friends became available for streaming on Netflix. It’s one of the most popular TV shows ever with countless fans across the globe. Those fans may not be happy to find out that the company which owns the rights to Friends is going to remove it from competing online streaming services.
WarnerMedia has the rights to popular content like Friends and ER. These shows are available on different online streaming services but that might change in the future. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has said that the company is planning to pull WarnerMedia’s content from other streaming services so that it can be exclusively offered on AT&T’s upcoming streaming service.
For those who are unware, WarnerMedia is owned by AT&T. The Dallas News reports that Stephenson said during a conference that “We are going to have to take a lot of the great content we own that’s been licensed elsewhere and bring that back into the fold.”
Taking these shows away from services like Netflix and Hulu will essentially force those who want to be able to stream Friends whenever they want, for example, to consider subscribing to AT&T’s new streaming service. It may also dent their rivals’ numbers as some of WarnerMedia’s shows are the most widely viewed shows on Netflix. That service even paid $100 million so that it could exclusively stream Friends throughout 2019.
AT&T is due to launch its streaming service at some point later this year.
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