Channel 4 wins UK free-to-air rights to Friends from January 2027

Centre · 2Channel 4 has landed UK free-to-air rights to Friends and will show all 10 seasons from January 2027 on E4 and Channel 4, including its video-on-demand player. 1 2 Centre · 2The show returns 15 years after it left the broadcaster; Channel 4 was its original UK home in the mid-1990s before it moved to E4 when that channel launched in 2001. 1 2 Mixed · 2The Independent and Evening Standard say the show last aired on Channel 4 in 2011, and The Independent's headline calls it a 16-year break, while Deadline and Radio Times count 15 years. 3 4

Centre · 2HBO Max remains Friends' UK streaming home; Channel 4 only has free-to-air rights. 1 2 Centre · 2Since leaving Channel 4 the show has aired on Netflix, Skydance-owned Channel 5, and Comedy Central. 1 2 Centre · 1Digital Spy says Friends will still be available on HBO Max, which can be got through NOW, with Channel 4 and E4 as free alternatives; it also notes that Warner Bros has just merged with Paramount under the Skydance umbrella. 5

Centre · 1Deadline reports the deal was struck by the Skydance-owned Warner Bros. sales arm, moving the show away from Channel 5, and that it is one of the first big show deals since the Skydance deal closed, announced as the MIPCOM sales market concludes. 1 Centre · 1Radio Times says Channel 4 announced the news on its social channels, with an Instagram post reading "Our friends are coming home. They'll be there for you on E4 & Channel 4 January 2027". 2 Centre · 2Kiran Nataraja, Channel 4's content strategy director, said Friends is a "natural fit" and thanked Warner Bros. for the relationship that made the deal possible; Polly Scates, who struck the deal for acquisitions, said the series "continues to bring together audiences of all ages". 2 1

Mixed · 2The Independent and Evening Standard note the series won six Emmy awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series in 2002, and both close by noting that Matthew Perry died in October 2023 from an accidental overdose; the Standard adds that his former live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa was sentenced to three years and five months in prison. 3 4 Centre · 1Deadline places the deal against a changing Channel 4, where programmes chief David Brindley starts in a few weeks and around 50% of the commissioning team is being laid off. 1 Centre · 1Radio Times adds that Lisa Kudrow said earlier this year that the cast earn $20 million a year in residuals when the show is re-aired. 2