If you somehow haven't seen NBC's cult-favorite workplace comedy The Office yet, it might be the time to press play. The series will be leaving Netflix in a few months. But if you can't marathon-watch the series' nine seasons before the end of the year, don't fret; The Office will be on Peacock when it leaves Netflix in January 2021.
News that the beloved comedy would be leaving Netflix came in June 25, 2019, when NBCUniversal released a statement announcing it was taking The Office back and moving it to the company's streaming service Peacock, which officially launched in July 2020.
“The Office has become a staple of pop culture and is a rare gem whose relevance continues to grow at a time when fans have more entertainment choices than ever before,” said Bonnie Hammer, the chair of NBCUniversal’s digital enterprise, in the statement. “We can’t wait to welcome the gang from Dunder Mifflin to NBCUniversal’s new streaming service.”
For those who didn't check industry publications that day, Netflix also tweeted the news. The streaming giant said it was "sad" to see the show go, and fans — for the most part — felt the same.
It makes sense Netflix wasn't thrilled NBC is taking the series. The streaming giant currently has exclusive streaming rights for the series, which has built up enormous popularity in its time on the platform. The Wall Street Journal reported in April 2019 that The Office was the most-watched show on Netflix during a 12-month test period from 2017-2018. That year, viewers streamed more than 52 million minutes (aka 98,935 years) of the show. "It's the No. 1 most-popular acquired show on Netflix," NBC Entertainment chair Robert Greenblatt confirmed to New York Magazine in 2019.
The Office's popularity helps explain why NBC would want the series on its new streaming service too. It is, after all, one of the network's flagship comedies. Plus, dedicated fans who watch The Office on Netflix just might be drawn to sign up for Peacock when it arrives.
The $500 million deal (yes, NBC has to pay licensing fees even though it owns The Office) gives the network exclusive domestic streaming rights to the series for five years. That means the series will likely be on Peacock (and probably nowhere else) at least until 2026.
There are three tiers for Peacock: a free tier with about two-thirds of the platform's catalog that's supported by ads, a $4.99-per-month tier that's all-inclusive with ads, and a $9.99-per-month tier that's all-inclusive without ads. Peacock offers a seven-day free trial, plus longer free trials for Android users and discounts for certain cable company customers. It's also worth noting Peacock is not available on Roku or Amazon Fire TV at this time.
The streaming platform has comedies like Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, and SNL. Still, if you're a cord-cutter who is only interested in streaming The Office, you might consider downloading the series on iTunes for $69.99 or purchasing the DVD set on Amazon for $49.96, which would both be cheaper than the $100 yearly cost of the ad-free version of Peacock.
The Office will move from Netflix to Peacock in January 2021, so you could watch the full series before then. However, you might need to make news plans for next year, because as fans of the show know, watching the series just once is not enough.
