‘The Office’ Is Officially Leaving Netflix. But You Still Have Time to Watch It

If you haven’t seen the beloved NBC TV show The Office yet, it might be time to start watching. The show is going to be removed from Netflix at the end of 2020.

Netflix announced Tuesday that NBCUniversal is taking back the rights to the show, which is thought to be one of the most-streamed series of all time on the platform. However, the hit show isn’t likely to disappear into the network’s archive. Netflix said that The Office will instead be streamed on NBC’s new streaming service, which the company announced in January.

“We’re sad that NBC has decided to take The Office back for its own streaming platform — but members can binge watch the show to their hearts’ content ad-free on Netflix until January 2021,” Netflix wrote on Twitter.

CNBC reported in January that NBCUniversal plans to launch a new streaming service which will be free to subscribers of its parent company, Comcast, as well as subscribers of other TV services such as Charter, AT&T and Dish. The service, which will have ads, will also be available to other viewers for a fee of about $12 a month.

While Netflix has long been the best-known streaming service, other companies are encroaching on the company’s territory. Disney, Apple and AT&T have all announced plans to roll out new streaming services over the next two years.

Some industry experts have suggested that new challengers could mean trouble for Netflix. Older content which Netflix acquired from other companies is also rated more highly than original Netflix content, according to industry analyst firm Ampere Analysis. Acquired titles have an average rating of 82, compared to 77 for original Netflix shows.

Netflix has reportedly worked aggressively to hold on to its most popular content. It shelled out $100 million to WarnerMedia for rights to Friends through 2019, according to the New York Times.