Sunday Strategist: The New Fight for Old TV

In the last few months, entertainment companies have spent nearly $2.5 billion on the streaming rights to old TV shows. NBC paid $500 million to take its own sitcom, “The Office,” off Netflix and put it on its upcoming streaming service, Peacock. HBO also snatched a sitcom from Netflix, paying $450 million to bring “Friends” to HBO Max. It then dropped even more money, $1 billion, for “The Big Bang Theory” while Netflix, not to be outdone, shelled out $500 million for “Seinfeld.”

Much has been made about streaming TV relying so heavily on network content. “Oh, the irony,” wrote the Chicago Tribune in June, when Nielsen reported that the most popular series on Netflix wasn’t one of its original, critically acclaimed shows but instead the NBC sitcom “The Office.” “It is, of course, slightly strange that a 20-year-old sitcom still retains such a magnetic appeal,” New York Magazine remarked this month about “Friends.” But really, it’s not strange at all.