Daily Times

Netflix caused ‘Friends’ to trend one more time on the new year eve with its ‘big’ announcement on Twitter that had everyone in nostalgic reactions – mostly by the audiences in the United Kingdom (UK). And so it happened, Netflix added each and every episode of the legendry 90s sitcom just as the new year began.

While this may be significant for Friends fans elsewhere, Pakistanis weren’t too big on the announcement. This is mainly because Friends has been streaming on a rival service iFlix that costs 1/3 of Netflix’s monthly subscription for Pakistanis since over a year now. iFlix is adding Urdu subtitles for many of their shows and Netflix doesn’t do Pakistani TV and movies, Bollywood and even western sitcoms familiar to Pakistani audiences half as good as the iFlix does. Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, 2 Broke Girls, and many similar titles are already available on iFlix but not on Netflix Pakistan.

So, while this may tempt many to binge-watch the whole 10 seasons again, iFlix has already cashed on the excitement over a year ago. Every episode of every season is already available on the iFlix. It’s in fact the show many Pakistani viewers binge-watch during their free first month of the subscription.

And of course the fact that many Pakistanis still stream it or download it off the pirated sources also really kills the buzz for us. That said, it definitely sounds like a treat for the viewers who hasn’t had an iFlix subscription and have been waiting for the show on Netflix.

The entertainment on demand giant has promised several new titles to be added to the service with beginning of the new year and let’s see if it is successful in wooing the Pakistani viewers. Plus Netflix original shows and movies might still be a good enough reason for viewers like myself to hold on to their subscriptions.

Let us know in the comment section when did you binge-watch Friends and on which platform?