Friends to Return to Channel 4 and E4 From January 2027
Friends is coming back to Channel 4 in the United Kingdom.
All 10 seasons will air on E4 and Channel 4's video-on-demand player, which lets viewers catch up online, from January 2027, Deadline reported. It is a homecoming. Channel 4 was the programme's first British broadcast home when it launched in the mid-1990s.
The new agreement covers free-to-air rights, meaning viewers can watch without paying for a subscription. HBO Max will remain the show's UK streaming home at the same time. In other words, there will be two legal routes to the same episodes: free on Channel 4 outlets, and on subscription through HBO Max.
The deal was struck by the Warner Bros. sales arm, the division that sells the studio's programmes to other broadcasters. It moves Friends away from network 5, its recent free-to-air holder.
The history here is long. Friends shifted to E4 when that digital channel, a sister service you find further up the dial, launched in 2001. The sitcom itself ran for 10 series between 1994 and 2004.
Channel 4's first exit took time. Digital Spy reported in 2010 that Channel 4 had ended its deal with Warner Bros. for the rights to air Friends. The repeats then played out on E4. The final outing went out on a Sunday at 20:00 BST to make way for new comedy, according to the BBC.
From 5 September 2011, the regular 8pm weekday slot on E4 went to other programmes, including My Name Is Earl and a David Blaine special, The Independent reported. Friends then moved to Comedy Central, a non-free-to-air channel that needs a pay-TV subscription.
This is not the first fight for the show. Channel 4 had poached Friends and ER from Sky in 1999 in a deal valued at $200m (£124m), The Guardian reported. A BBC report from the previous day put the value of that three-year deal at £100m.
For fans, this means choice. Free episodes on E4 and on catch-up, or streaming on HBO Max. No new episodes are involved. Just old favourites, back where they started.
