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Friends: The Reunion yet to be confirmed for Australia

US teases the big reunion for May 27, but no broadcast plans for Australia just yet.

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Friends fans are getting excited that the Friends: The Reunion has a broadcast date in the USA.

It will screen stateside on HBO Max on May 27.

But while most HBO Max titles screen on Foxtel / Binge in Australia it isn’t an automatic pipeline of content.

Foxtel sources are yet to confirm having Australian rights to this one.

Cast salaries were an eye-watering $US2.5m each -originally designed to help launch HBO Max- and TV Tonight understands international rights were not initially negotiated.

That’s likely to send any pricetag skyhigh for a one-off special even when it becomes available.

Meanwhile reruns are available in Australia on Foxtel / Binge, Netflix and 10 Peach.

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  5. The final episode of Seinfeld (76.3 million) rates as the 6th most watched entertainment event, excluding the Super Bowl events. “Mash” stands at 106 million. “Who Shot J.R.?” of “Dallas” at 83.6 million. “Cheers” at 80.5 million. The movie, “The Day After” at 77.4 million and the concluding chapter of “Roots” at 76.7 million. I bet television executives would cry to see numbers like that again.

  6. Its possible theres a bidding war going on for Aus rights. Then again, how much will a broadcaster pay for a one-off special?

    It highlights again how broken the streaming environment is in Australia.

  7. As a die hard friends fan, I can’t wait for this. Networks are crazy if they don’t pick it up to air within 24 hours of it going to air in the US.

    However one thing I don’t understand is why they have included special guests – Justin Beiber. James Corden. BTS. Just to name a few… why!? Some special guest are understandable as they appeared on the show (Maggie Wheeler and Reese Witherspoon for example). But I feel like the “random social guests” which have nothing to do with friends might take away from what the fans really want.

    Do we know how long the broadcast is, David? I’m assuming 60-90min?

  11. So, I’ve never been a Friends fan, so I’m out of the loop. But, is this an actual new episode or is it like the six of them sitting around reminiscing about the show?

        2. Warner gets roughly $1Billion annually from the repeats alone.
          The cast negotiated 2% of that. They get a reported $20M a year. Each.

          (which admittedly begs the question of why this couldn’t have been done for charity…)

          1. Table77, you have a rational view. But how do we know they won’t donate this, or other monies in private? Contrariwise, Seinfeld’s final episode aired in the United States on May 17, 1998, capturing the second highest ever rating for a series finale at 87 million US viewers. That’s twenty-three years ago. In present day, each cast member is appropriating an astounding $60M as part of the initial rights and residuals agreement they signed back in the day. While the cast haven’t done a reunion yet, does that mean they should also donate to a charity of their choice?

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