Shots Fired In The Streaming Wars: All Of “Friends” Arrives On Stan

Just when you thought Netflix had the streaming battle sewn up, Australian comer Stan has dropped all 236 episodes of Friends for weekend bingeing.

Could this be any more of a twist?

In 2014, Netflix purchased the rights to stream Friends in the States for US$500,000 an episode (which, if you don’t have a calculator handy, amounts to a tidy $118 million for all ten seasons).

Despite the sitcom being two decades old, reruns since its conclusion in 2004 have made it extremely popular amongst today’s yoof.

Hence: Taylor Swift inviting Lisa Kudrow onstage to sing Phoebe’s anthem “Smelly Cat” just last month.

Yet, Stan – which is owned by Fairfax Media and the Nine Network – pulled one over Netflix by making a deal with Warner Bros in August that secured all episodes of Friends for Australia, as well as fellow nostalgia-fueled hit, The O.C.

The debut of Friends should give Stan a bit of a boost, which is necessary, considering it's reportedly behind Netflix and the Foxtel-owned Presto in terms of subscriber numbers.

Presto recently debuted a new ad campaign led by spokeswoman Naomi Watts, asking Australians to "demand more" from their streaming providers; a direct attack on Netflix, suggesting the American provider is "all sizzle" but ultimately lacking in content.

Meanwhile, for this one weekend at least, Stan is all like this:

Let the wars rage onwards!