Friends will no longer be available on Netflix next year, the streamer has announced. 

The hugely popular American series ended in 2004 but is one of the most popular options available on Netflix. 

All of that means the rights to the series have cost Netflix a rumoured $80 to $100 million every single year. 

On Moncrieff, broadcaster Sarina Bellissimo described the sitcom as something that is “on accidentally every day” in her house. 

“I will never go and seek it out intentionally, but if I am watching TV the old fashioned way and channel surfing, if it’s a Friends episode, all four of us in this house will actually stop the channel surfing and end up watching it,” she said. 

The cast of Friends. Picture by: Alamy.com. 

But the licensing rights are up on December 30th and have not been renewed. 

Few doubt they have been snapped up by someone else - but the question of who has yet to be confirmed. 

“It is because HBO Max, which is owned by Warner Brothers and that’s where Friends was made, they’re coming to the UK and Ireland next year?” Ms Bellissimo wondered. 

“Is it that they’re bought the rights or that is it that Netflix just decided not to? 

“This hasn’t been confirmed but Netflix are looking at buying HBO Max. 

“So, if Netflix do buy HBO Max, is this all for nothing? It is going to end up back on the streamer?”

Ms Bellissimo added that the appeal of Friends is intergenerational and the result is a huge number of people have “kicked off” on social media. 

“The way everyone’s kicking up a stink, you’d think it was the only thing leaving,” she said. 

“Other things are leaving as well, like How I Met Your Mother, ET, 10 Things I Hate About You, Clueless. 

“Every month, stuff comes on the streaming provider and stuff comes off.” 

Main image: Friends cast Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer. Picture by: Alamy.com.