While Netflix is usually quick to promote its biggest and most popular original series — such as it goes with Bridgerton and the merch-oozing Stranger Things — the streaming service’s most-watched shows obviously aren’t always in-studio projects. From the hospital drama of Grey’s Anatomy to the…whatever happens on Cocomelon…Netflix has long acquired other studios’ fare to keep its subscribers happy. But now, it looks like one of the most popular licensed series on the platform will be vacating post-haste, with Criminal Minds and its BAU members set to make their imminent, albeit temporary, streaming exit.
Unfortunately for anyone who only just started up a Criminal Minds binge-fest on Netflix, the former CBS drama will be removed from the service on Wednesday, June 29. As it has gone with many other mega-popular shows before, from The Office to Friends, Netflix’s deal to stream Criminal Minds has run its course, and the creatively violent network drama will be moving on to other streaming pastures.
If you’re someone who has consistently had Criminal Minds on in the background while doing housework or something, then you get how rather massive this news is. But for anyone who might not see it as such, take into account that for years now, Criminal Minds has been streamed for more than 500 million minutes each week. That’s a rough average, I will admit, given the lack of concrete data, but the show is consistently listed in Nielsen’s Top 10 lists.
For instance, the measurement service’s latest report for the week of May 16-22 lists Criminal Minds as being in third place among all acquired TV programming, with 501 million minutes watched from its (admittedly incomplete) 321-episode library. Comparatively, Cocomelon is at the top of that list with 682 million minutes, with The Lincoln Lawyer and Ozark as the only two Netflix Originals that were watched more than Criminal Minds that week. And that’s not exactly a rarity. So it’s a big deal is all I’m saying.
Thankfully, fans won’t be completely out of luck when it comes to streaming Criminal Minds, as it will immediately be available for those with Paramount+ subscriptions on June 29. By all means, that makes a bit more sense studio-wise, since Paramount Global runs the streaming service and its former network CBS. (That said, the final three seasons, which aired from 2018-2020, will still only be available on Hulu until that deal runs out.)
Even without Seasons 13-15, it also makes sense for Criminal Minds to end up on Paramount+ since that’s where the upcoming revival series is being produced. While it seemed in 2021 as if those plans might not come together in full, the cast started signing on earlier in 2022, bringing it all closer to reality. (Even Kirsten Vangsness is returning, despite Garcia seemingly getting out of the criminal-catching action.)
So be sure to stream every last drop out of Criminal Minds on Netflix while you still can — and maybe play Spot The Forgotten Actor bingo — before the show flips over to Paramount+. And check out everything else heading to the streamer soon with our Netflix TV premiere schedule.
