Netflix sign-in page displayed on a laptop screen and Netflix logo displayed on a phone screen are seen on this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland, on Jan. 2, 2023.
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Netflix‘s crackdown on password sharing has come to the U.S.
The streaming service said it began alerting members on Tuesday about its latest sharing policy, noting that Netflix accounts are only to be shared inside a single household.
“Your Netflix account is for you and the people you reside with — your household,” the corporate said in an email, which it posted to its blog on Tuesday.
The e-mail goes on to say that members can transfer a profile of somebody outside of their household so the person can begin a latest membership they pay for on their very own. Or they will pay an additional fee – $7.99 a month – per person outside of their household using their account.
On Netflix’s subscription plans page, it notes that extra members could be added to its standard and premium plans without ads.
Netflix warned it might be tightening its guidelines on password sharing in a push to spice up revenue and subscriber numbers, soon after the corporate began seeing growth stagnate.
What Netflix plans cost
Here’s how Netflix prices its tiers in the USA:
- Standard ad-supported (2 devices at a time): $6.99/month
- Basic (1 device at a time): $9.99/month
- Standard (2 devices at a time): $15.49/month
- Premium (4 devices at a time): $19.99/month
Originally, Netflix was expected to roll out its crackdown on individuals who borrow other accounts to create their very own profiles late in the primary quarter, but alerted investors and customers during an earnings call last month that it was pushing the move until the second quarter.
The streamer has said than greater than 100 million households share accounts, which is about 43% of its global user base. Netflix said this has affected its ability to take a position in latest content.
Earlier this yr, Netflix outlined password-sharing guidance in 4 other countries: Latest Zealand, Canada, Portugal and Spain. Netflix said it might ask members in those countries to set a “primary location” for his or her accounts, and permit users to determine two sub accounts for many who don’t live of their home base for extra fees.
Read more: Netflix’s expected password-sharing crackdown puts college students on edge
In Tuesday’s notice, the corporate didn’t provide such specifics for U.S. households, and relatively gave the 2 options of either transferring a profile or paying a fee for an additional member.
The corporate said it had seen its subscriber growth affected internationally where it had rolled out such initiatives in the course of the first quarter. But Netflix still managed so as to add 1.75 million customers in the course of the quarter.
In Latin America, Netflix executives said it saw cancellations after the news was announced, affecting near-term growth. But they found those password borrowers would later activate their very own accounts and add existing members as “extra member” accounts. Consequently, the corporate has seen more revenue, the execs said.
Netflix executives have likened the paid-sharing transition to that of price increases: people initially balk and cancel, then slowly return and enroll for their very own accounts.
Along with its crackdown on password sharing, Netflix also recently introduced a less expensive, ad-supported tier in an effort to spice up revenue. Each measures have are available in response shortly after Netflix reported its first subscriber loss in greater than a decade in early 2022.
Media firms across the board have been on the lookout for ways to make their streaming plays profitable, leaning on methods resembling content cost-cutting, promoting and finding other ways to draw more customers to their platforms.
On Tuesday, Warner Bros. Discovery relaunched its streaming service as Max, which is a mixture of the HBO Max and Discovery+ services.
Paramount Global also announced this week that its Paramount+ with the Showtime combined app can be available in late June. Disney has also recently announced it’s adding Hulu content to Disney+.