WarnerMedia’s new platform, HBO Max, will offer the iconic series exclusively in the US, while HBO will do so in Spain. However, in Latin America, Europe and the rest of the world, it will continue to be offered by Netflix.
This week, WarnerMedia finally got back the rights to Friends for its new streaming platform, HBO Max.
For almost 100 million dollars, the group managed to take its iconic series back from Netflix in the US, replicating what they’d done last month in Spain.
However, it’s not all bad news for Netflix, since it’s still the owner of the series’ streaming rights for the rest of the world.
“The news of the acquisition applies only to the US,” a Netflix spokesperson said to ttvnews.
Despite having finished 15 years ago, the series is the second most watched program on Netflix, according to Nielsen, with which the news means a victory for the platform, whose growth potential in international subscribers is a strong point amidst lower profits in the US.
Netflix Hangs on to CW Shows Too
On the other hand, while HBO Max confirmed that it will be the home of the new dramas that Warner Bros. produces for The CW, like Batwoman and Katy Keene, the story is not the same for shows premiered in past seasons.
Netflix will continue to offer new seasons of CW programs that premiered during the 2018-2019 season, not to mention those which will be hosted for several years after its original release, according to the joint production agreement that ended this year.
Thus, series like Supernatural, Riverdale, Flash or Dynasty can remain on Netflix for many more years.
Finally, it was confirmed that HBO Max will not have a Harry Potter series in its arsenal, since the rights to open and pay TV were acquired by NBCUniversal until 2025.
The WarnerMedia platform will be launched later this year in beta mode in the US, for a price between 16 and 17 dollars a month, and a catalog that will offer file series, original productions, movies and more.
