E-Paper
Has Netflix's crackdown on password-sharing paid off? Here are the results
As per Netflix's new policies, the subscribers will have to pay an extra $7.99 for sharing their accounts with up to two more people living outside household.
Online streaming giant Netflix has witnessed a massive rise in subscribers, this days after it informed users about its paid sharing policies, a move seen as a crackdown on password sharing among users.
The average daily signups on Netflix soared to 73,000 since May 23 when the OTT platform had announced the policies. As per data analytics website Antenna , Netflix added one lakh subscribers on May 26 and 27. It is actually more subscribers than what the platform had garnered since the Covid-19 lockdowns came into effect in March and April 2020.
According to Netflix's new password-sharing policies, the subscribers will have to pay an extra $7.99 ( ₹658) for sharing their accounts with up to two more people living outside the household. The OTT giant had warned investors about a ‘cancel reaction' against the change. However, the website Antenna believes there were more signups than cancellations.
Earlier this year, Netflix introduced paid sharing in Canada, New Zealand, Spain and Portugal. Due to the password-sharing crackdown, it said that during most recent earning calls, the subscriber base in Canada had grown faster than in the United States.
The company had said this year that more than ten crore households were sharing accounts at the service, which impacted its ability to invest in ‘great new TV and films’.
It is too early to tell how big effect of the Netflix's crackdown on password-sharing has been in the United States. It will be known when the company reports its earnings next month. According to Bloomberg report, Netflix Inc. rose 2.6% on a report it added US subscribers after cracking down on password sharing.
