Netflix is about to lose The Office, its most-watched TV show in the US
It’s terrible news for the streaming service
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Your support makes all the difference.Netflix is about to lose its most-watched title.
Sadly, for subscribers in America, there is just over one month left to watch the US version of The Office, which will be removed from the service on 31 December.
The Office has been Netflix's most successful licensed title for years. The removal has been expected since June 2019 when NBC, the network which aired The Office, announced it would exclusively air the show on its very own streaming service for five years.
This will come into effect from 1 January 2021 meaning The Office won't be back on Netflix until at least 2026.
This isn't the greatest news for Netflix. In 2018, a Nielsen report revealed that subscribers clocked up more minutes watching The Office than any other TV show.
To put this into perspective, the streaming service once paid a staggering $100m to keep Friends for just one year – and that show didn’t even come close to being streamed in the US the same number of times as the Steve Carell series.
Not that the streamer will be too bruised. This year has been another hugely successful showing for Netflix thanks to original TV shows Tiger King, The Umbrella Academy and Emily in Paris.
The Office has built up a strong fan base over the years. It first began as an adaptation of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s BBC series, but took on a life of its own thanks to its ensemble, which includes Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski and Rainn Wilson.
In an interview with The Independent, Krasinski said he would be up for a reunion.
“I would totally do it,” he said. “I can genuinely say I’ve never been in anything like it. We all look forward to the day we can do it again. Hopefully we can find a way.”
In the UK, the sitcom is available to stream on Amazon Prime.
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