{"id":222352,"date":"2019-07-10T02:33:37","date_gmt":"2019-07-10T06:33:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=222352"},"modified":"2019-07-10T02:33:37","modified_gmt":"2019-07-10T06:33:37","slug":"att-pulls-friends-from-netflix-for-its-streaming-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/07\/10\/att-pulls-friends-from-netflix-for-its-streaming-service\/","title":{"rendered":"AT&T pulls ‘Friends’ from Netflix for its streaming service"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Netflix said in a prepared statement Tuesday that it’s sorry to see \u201cFriends\u201d go in the U.S. Viewing rights for other countries are not affected. (File Photo<\/a>: Friends\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NEW YORK \u2014 AT&T is pulling \u201cFriends\u201d from Netflix to beef up its own upcoming streaming service. With new services launching, popular shows are splintering onto several different platforms.<\/p>\n

The wireless company, which owns the WarnerMedia entertainment business, also said Tuesday that its service will be called HBO Max. It will launch in spring of 2020. As the name suggests, it will contain HBO content, other video from the Warner Bros. studio \u2014 like \u201cFriends\u201d \u2014 and new series and movies that are exclusive to the service. AT&T has not announced a price.<\/p>\n

As more companies \u2014 Comcast, Apple, Disney \u2014 unveil their own streaming services, they’re trying to make them more appealing with exclusive shows and deep libraries. Entertainment companies are pulling some of their stuff from Netflix to stock their own services. It’s not clear, of course, how successful those services will be, and they are losing out on licensing revenue by pulling their content. It could also create a confusing and expensive situation for consumers, who have to decide which of all these existing and new video services is worth the cost.<\/p>\n

AT&T’s decision follows Comcast’s NBCUniversal saying last month it would keep \u201cThe Office,\u201d Netflix’s most popular show, for itself starting in 2021. Its service debuts in 2020. Disney’s upcoming service will be the exclusive streaming home for its big movies.<\/p>\n

Netflix for years has been playing up its original shows and movies, but much of its most popular video belongs to other companies. \u201cFriends,\u201d for example, is the second-most watched show on Netflix, according to Nielsen. The company has said it isn’t worried about the increased competition.<\/p>\n

Netflix said in a prepared statement Tuesday that it’s sorry to see \u201cFriends\u201d go in the U.S. Viewing rights for other countries are not affected.<\/p>\n

AT&T also said Tuesday that the teen drama \u201cPretty Little Liars,\u201d currently on Netflix, will move to its service, and that it will be the exclusive streaming hub for \u201cFresh Prince of Bel Air,\u201d and Warner Bros. dramas made for The CW, the broadcast network it co-owns with CBS. It is also making original movies and series for the service, including a romantic comedy with Anna Kendrick and at least two movies produced by Reese Witherspoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think any specific content matters at all\u201d to Netflix, said Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter. The loss of \u201cFriends\u201d by itself isn’t a big deal, he said. But over time, if Disney, AT&T and Comcast pull all their stuff from Netflix, that becomes a problem for the streaming pioneer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 AT&T is pulling \u201cFriends\u201d from Netflix to beef up its own upcoming streaming service. With new services …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":222353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-222352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","category-hollywood","mauthors-tali-arbel","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222352"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":222354,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222352\/revisions\/222354"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}