Channel 4 has announced that it has decided to relinquish its UK broadcast rights to long-running TV series Friends. The channel has agreed a deal with Warner Bros International Television Distribution to end its association with Friends in autumn 2011.

Ending its tie to the 15-year-old series will provide an opportunity to refresh the schedule across Channel 4 and E4 and, alongside the decision not to re-commission Big Brother past summer 2010, frees funds to develop new UK content and acquire the latest shows coming out of the US.

Gill Hay, Head of Acquisitions says: "After 15 years, 10 hit series and 236 terrific episodes it's time to say goodbye to old Friends and welcome new ones, in the form of more comedy, drama and entertainment from the US and UK. We are incredibly proud to have been the home of Friends for so long, but at a point when the Channel is undergoing a period of creative renewal it felt like the right time to part company."

Channel 4, E4 and More4 will continue to be the home of the best free-to-air US drama and comedy, including the critically-acclaimed vampire drama True Blood and Golden Globe winning hit musical comedy Glee, and brand new series The Cleveland Show and The Good Wife. Ongoing popular US series include The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters and 90210.