Netflix to start crack down on account sharing in THESE 4 countries from today. Details here
3 min read . Updated: 09 Feb 2023, 07:41 AM IST
PremiumNetflix has more than 231 million paid subscribers in 190 countries. The Los Gatos, California-based company estimates that 100 million households are currently sharing their accounts with others, which impacts the company’s ability to invest in new programming.
Netflix Inc on Wednesday has laid out plans to crack down on rampant account sharing for accounts on its streaming platform.
The plan has been laid down for setting up primary location to paying a couple of dollars for an extra member. The video-streaming giant, which estimated that 100 million around the world use a shared account, said that members can now easily manage who has access to their account, transfer profile to a new account and still easily watch Netflix on their personal devices or log into a new TV.
“Today, over 100 million households are sharing accounts — impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films," it said.
The streaming giant said that the new plans will be laid out in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain from today. Previously, it was rolled out in multiple markets in Latin America.
“We’ve always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix account with features like profiles and multiple streams," the company said in a blog post Wednesday. “While these have been hugely popular, they’ve also created confusion about when and how you can share Netflix."
Netflix has more than 231 million paid subscribers in 190 countries. The Los Gatos, California-based company estimates that 100 million households are currently sharing their accounts with others, which impacts the company’s ability to invest in new programming.
“We’ve always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix account with features like profiles and multiple streams," the company said in a blog post Wednesday. “While these have been hugely popular, they’ve also created confusion about when and how you can share Netflix." The company has laid down five crackdown: Set primary location, Manage account access and device, Transfer profile, Watch while you travel, Buy an extra member.
In the post, Netflix said that standard and premium subscribers in Canada, Spain, New Zealand and Portugal to set up an extra account for up to two people they don’t live with for an extra monthly fee.
“Members on our Standard or Premium plan in many countries (including Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain) can add an extra member sub account for up to two people they don’t live with — each with a profile, personalized recommendations, login and password — for an extra CAD$7.99 a month per person in Canada, NZD$7.99 in New Zealand, Euro 3.99 in Portugal, and Euro 5.99 in Spain," it wrote.
Netflix said it will also allow people who have been borrowing accounts to transfer their viewing history and other preferences to a new paid subscription.
The company did not say what actions it will take if subscribers continue to share accounts outside their household.
Earlier on 23 January, the new Co-Chief Executive Officers (CEO) Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos had provided details on the end of password sharing in an interview with Bloomberg. As per Peters, the video streaming platform would not sacrifice consumer experience, even after rolling out the controlled password sharing as it will be a graduated approach. He had added that the majority of users who do not pay for Netflix but use it will have to eventually pay for the content.
Moreover, the CEOs had emphasised that the company was planning to increase the subscriber base by 15 to 20 million with a focus in countries like India.
Paid net additions for Netflix stood at 7.7 million globally in the December quarter of 2022 versus 8.3 million in the same period in 2021. In the Asia and Pacific region, Netflix added 1.8 million paid members in the December quarter, lower than the 2.58 million added in the same period a year ago.
The fourth quarter saw year-over-year revenue growth of 2%, driven by a 4% increase in average paid memberships. ARM (average revenue per member) declined 2% year-over-year, but grew 5% on a foreign exchange neutral basis, Netflix said. Operating income of $550 million in Q4 was down versus $632 million in Q4 ‘21.
Earlier last year, it was reported that Netflix plans to curb password sharing from early 2023. It was much speculated that the password sharing feature from the company will be rolled out by the end of 2022.
The video streaming company had admitted that sharing passwords leaves an adverse impact on the business but did not take any action as of now. The report had also stated that the company might ask users who share accounts with others outside of their household to pay for the subscription.
(With inputs from agencies)
