Channel 4 axes Friends after 15 years
12 April 2012
Friends will no longer be shown on free-to-air TV from next year after Channel 4 ended its deal for the rights to the series.
The broadcaster is to end its deal to show the US series next year, when it will disappear from C4 and Freeview digital channel E4.
The rights to the series — which made Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston international stars — were immediately snapped up by Comedy Central, a British channel only available though monthly payment packages with Sky or Virgin.
C4 said that ending the deal will, together with the end of Big Brother, free up cash for original programming and US buy-ins.
