Netflix Announces Exactly When The Office Is Leaving, And It’s Very Soon

It has been known for some time that The Office would be leaving Netflix to join Peacock in 2021, but now Netflix has put an official end-date on the show’s run on its platform.

The misadventures of Michael, Jim, Dwight, Pam, and more will come to an end on Netflix on December 31. After that, the much-loved workplace comedy will shift to NBC’s own streaming platform, Peacock, though an exact start-date for Peacock seemingly has not been announced yet. All of this only applies to the United States.

The Office has been a mainstay of Netflix for many years. According to actor Brian Baumgartner, who plays the bumbling accountant Kevin Malone, it is Netflix’s most popular show “by far” in the US.

According to NBC, The Office is the most popular show in all of streaming on-demand video. The show tallied an astounding 52 billion minutes of viewing time in 2018, according to NBC.

A story from The Hollywood Reporter said NBC is paying $100 million per year for five years to producers Universal Television to have The Office on the NBC streaming service. Universal Television and NBC are owned by the same company.

The Office is just the latest big loss for Netflix when it comes to a popular legacy show. Friends left Netflix earlier in 2020 before heading to HBO Max, while another NBC show, Parks and Recreation, was removed from Netflix for Peacock as well. Again, all of this only applies to the US; international markets have their own streaming deals.

Unlike Netflix, Peacock is a free platform supported by ads. The service is only available in the US.

The Office, which is based on the Ricky Gervais show of the same name, ran for nine seasons from 2005 to 2013. While Netflix is losing The Office, the company is still in business with Steve Carell and creator Greg Daniels with their show Space Force, which has been picked up for a second season. The first season didn’t exactly make waves, but neither did Season 1 of The Office, and Space Force has made a series of behind-the-scenes changes to help it break out in its sophomore season just like The Office did.

You can avoid all of these streaming headaches by purchasing The Office outright on physical media, and thankfully, Black Friday 2020 has a great deal that can help you keep the entire series forever.