The West Wing – Picture: Warner Brothers
We could soon see The West Wing depart Netflix for the upcoming HBO Max service. The series was announced among the huge lineup for HBO Max due for release in 2020. When could The West Wing be removed from Netflix? Let’s take a look.
The West Wing is one of the darling shows of the Warner Brothers’ 90s lineup. It joins the likes of Friends and a handful of other shows Warner Media hopes you’ll sign up for its new service when it releases in May 2020.
The series itself has been streaming on Netflix for quite some time now with the series last being renewed back in December 2015 but it’s worth noting it was scheduled to leave at the time. Although no details were provided, we now believe that the show’s streaming rights were renewed for five years.
In October 2019 as part of the unveil for HBO Max, The West Wing was announced to be heading to the service. It’s worth noting that it’s not due for release on the service from day 1, however.
What's next? How about every episode of The West Wing? The entire series will be available for streaming on #HBOMax in the Winter of 2020.
— HBO Max (@hbomax) October 29, 2019
Instead, we’re led to believe with its “winter 2020” release date, that the series will be streaming on HBO Max in December 2020. Netflix’s deal with the show seems to renew on Christmas Day (December 25th) and that’s when we’re currently predicting that The West Wing will leave Netflix.
Netflix works most of its titles on an annual basis with third-party providers however it seems most of its contracts with Warner Brothers, as demonstrated by the majority of The CW library, operate for substantially longer.
Will The West Wing be a big loss for Netflix? Probably not alone. However, the amount of shows and movies Netflix stands to lose from the provider longterm is substantial.
Did anyone really watch West Wing on Netflix when it was there? Feel like it never got any real buzz…not sure why — was just highlighted as coming to #hbomax at launch #warnermediainvestorday $T pic.twitter.com/cDs2n003Rv
— Rich Greenfield, LightShed 🔦 (@RichLightShed) October 29, 2019
Netflix has invested in quite a few political thrillers over the past few years with Madam Secretary from CBS still getting regular-season updates, House of Cards being complete (albeit with a rough end) and it recently acquired and released a new season for Designated Survivor (although it’s not returning).
We’ll keep you up-to-date on the future of West Wing on Netflix and let you know if anything changes.
