Heartland reached a much larger US audience when the heartwarming family drama was added to Netflix – but today is a sad day for those who have come to love the series.
Heartland reached a much larger US audience when the heartwarming family drama was added to Netflix – but today is a sad day for those who have come to love the series.
However, Netflix has now removed the show from the streaming service. The last day to watch the first 16 seasons of Heartland on Netflix in the U.S. was July 31. The series, which films and airs on CBC in Canada, has been available to stream on Netflix for nearly a decade, with the streamer adding new seasons as they become available.
Though season 18 finished airing in 2024, Netflix had not yet added Heartland seasons 17 or 18 to its catalog before the license expired.
Our Take On Heartland Leaving Netflix
Netflix Weighed The Licensing Fee Against Viewership
If a program or movie does not belong to the streaming platform that houses it, licensing fees can become hefty when compared to the streamer’s subscriber base, and whether the program is bringing in new subscribers. That may be the case for the long-running Heartland.
According to Netflix’s official site, the company takes numerous factors into account as a license comes up on its expiration, including the popularity and the cost. Their site reads:
Netflix licenses TV shows and movies from studios worldwide. Although we strive to keep the titles you want to watch, some titles may leave Netflix due to licensing agreements. Whenever a TV show or movie license is expiring, we consider things such as: If the rights to the title are still available, how popular it is in a region, and how much it costs to license.
Netflix would not have stopped streaming a long-running series, or one that has been on the platform for the better part of a decade, without carefully considering its options. It’s likely that Netflix’s team decided the expense of Heartland was not returning enough benefits for the streamer.
The streamer did recently acquire U.S. streaming rights for another Canadian drama in Sullivan’s Crossing. Unlike Heartland, Sullivan’s Crossing has only three seasons produced so far and is rapidly gaining a fan base outside of Canada. It was likely a less expensive option for the streamer, but it offered an international drama they believed would fill the void.
Unlike streaming Sullivan’s Crossing in the US, Heartland is also available to stream on a lot more platforms. Or at least, multiple seasons of the show are. With Netflix not having streaming exclusivity for the series, that may have played a factor as well.
Where Else Can You Watch Heartland?
Heartland Is Available On Several Smaller Streaming Platforms
If you are outside of the United States and Netflix has been the home for Heartland in your region, it may continue to be. Netflix still retains international rights to the later seasons of Heartland, at least for the time being.
In the US, however, there are other platforms that allow users to stream Heartland.
Peacock and Prime Video both house 15 seasons of Heartland for subscribers, while the CW’s app and the Roku Channel both have 15 seasons of the show available for free for the time being.
Hallmark+ also has 17 seasons of the show available, which makes sense given that the streamer is the online home for all things Hallmark, which is the network to air Heartland in the US. There are also several more options for Heartland fans on smaller streaming services.
UP Faith And Family, however, is the first streaming home for new seasons of Heartland in the US now. It is the only streamer that has season 18 of Heartland currently available.
Streaming Platform
Seasons Of Heartland Available
PLEX
14 Seasons
Pure Flix
14 Seasons
The CW
15 Seasons
Peacock
15 Seasons
Prime Video
15 Seasons
The Roku Channel
15 Seasons
Hallmark+
17 Seasons
Fubo
17 Seasons
Philo
17 Seasons
UP Faith And Family
18 Seasons
Season 19 of Heartland is currently in production.
Source: Netflix
