Seinfeld is finally available to stream on Netflix - and the streamer paid a big price to get the gang onboard. In the battle of streaming services, it’s not so much who has the biggest archive but who has the most popular titles in its library. TV shows like Friends, The Office, and Seinfeld are among the most popular, but they can’t be found on the same streaming service (though the former sitcoms were once available on Netflix simultaneously at one point).
Seinfeld is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential sitcoms of all time, often listed as the best series of the ‘90s. The show was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, and followed a fictionalized version of Seinfeld and his daily life in Manhattan, along with his friends George Costanza (Jason Alexander), Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards). The series ran from 1989 to 1998 and made its way to the world of streaming in 2015 thanks to Hulu. In September 2019, Netflix announced the acquisition of the streaming rights for Seinfeld, and the cost to acquire the series was massive, to say the least.
Netflix reportedly paid over $500 million for the global streaming rights to Seinfeld. In 2019, the company lost the streaming rights to two of its most popular series: The Office and Friends, which are now with NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia, respectively. NBCUniversal paid $500 million for The Office and WarnerMedia got Friends for $425 million, though these deals only cover streaming in the United States. Netflix, however, will be able to stream Seinfeld globally, and with the other two big comedy shows out of its catalogue, the platform needed a big title that would make users stick around after Friends and The Office headed to Peacock and HBO Max – and what better replacement than Seinfeld?
Hulu had been Seinfeld’s home since 2015 thanks to a six-year, $130 million deal, with all nine seasons available and Amazon holding the streaming rights in most foreign territories. The deal was this year, and with Seinfeld being added to Netflix as of October 1, 2021. Although Netflix still has a big number of films and TV shows, including original content, the departure of Friends and The Office was a big shake-up, and acquiring Seinfeld was a necessary move that the company was surely ready to make no matter the price. It always seemed unlikely that the most popular sitcoms of the last three decades would be available for streaming on the same platform at the same time. And with subscription services like Disney+ and Apple TV+ coming up soon, the battle for the streaming rights of many other films and TV shows will continue for years.
The streamer not only paid big bucks to acquire Seinfeld, but it also made it available to viewers in 4K. However, that made longtime fans of the series frustrated because the change from its original 4:3 aspect ratio to 16:9 meant that some of the physical gags happening onscreen were no longer visible. The same was an issue when Seinfeld was streaming on Hulu. Whether or not Netflix will change it or make the original ratio an option at the very least remains to be seen. Regardless of its aspect ratio, Seinfeld remains Netflix's most notable buy in recent years. It makes sense if the service wants to stay competitive, especially as more streamers continue to pop up. For now, Seinfeld fans can finally enjoy the sitcom on Netflix.