Sorry, Scranton fans.
Beloved NBC sitcomThe Officewill no longer be available on Netflix after January 2021, the streaming giantannounced on TwitterTuesday.
“We’re sad that NBC has decided to take The Office back for its own streaming platform — but members can binge watch the show to their hearts’ content ad-free on Netflix until January 2021,” Netflix’stweetsaid.
NBC also announced the news in apress release, saying that the network “secured the exclusive domestic streaming rights” to the show, and it will stream for five years on the upcoming NBC platform, which is expected to launch next year.
The sitcom — which famously stars Steve Carrell as Michael Scott, an office manager for the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company — was streamed for more than 52 billion minutes in 2018 alone, according to the network. NBC also said that in April 2019,The Officewas streamed for nearly twice as long as the next most-viewed show, but did not specify the runner-up.
The news was devastating to fans, who expressed their grief on Twitter with plenty ofOffice-themed GIFs and memes.
In perhaps an attempt to assuage fans’ fears about life withoutThe Officeon Netflix, the streamer sent outanother tweetTuesday promoting a new sitcom from Carrell andThe Officecreator Greg Daniels.
“just leaving this here for totally no reason,” the tweet said, quoting a previous tweet from Netflix’s “See What’s Next” account announcing the upcoming series.
Byron Cohen/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
“.@SteveCarellwill star in a new workplace comedy series he co-created with#TheOffice’s Greg Daniels about the people tasked with creating a sixth branch of the armed services: the Space Force!” said the quoted tweet, which wasoriginally postedin January.
But the news shouldn’t come as a total surprise.
Netflix and NBC have been in a battle over who gets to keep rights toThe Office, according to aWall Street Journalreport published in April. According to the report, Netflix has paid around $100 million for the exclusive streaming rights to the show.
Time to get binging!
source: people.com
