Netflix Inc. co-founder Reed Hastings steps down as CEO after leading the company for more than two decades; he is succeeded by two long-time associates, Ted Sarandos (who was already co-chief) and Greg Peters. They have now provided details about the company's future, including a proposal to end password sharing in many countries.
Peters, the new co-CEO confirmed that the vast majority of Netflix subscribers who use the service but do not pay for it will be forced to do so in the near future. In an interview with Bloomberg, he went on to say that the regulated password sharing would be implemented gradually, so the video streaming platform would not sacrifice the user experience even after it gets implemented.
He predicted that the event would not be well received by all, and that the company would have to deal with some irate customers. According to the CEOs, the company hopes to focus on developing countries such as India as it grows its subscriber base by 15 to 20 million.
Netflix launched a new advertising-supported tier in November. The ad tier's performance has been mixed; it was Netflix's least popular plan in its first month. However, the new tier resulted in a surge in new sign-ups on its first day and increased its share of Netflix sign-ups in December.
Netflix expressed satisfaction with its progress and said that the advertising tier has attracted new, cost-conscious customers. The majority of people who choose the advertising tier are new customers, not people downgrading from a more expensive plan, Bloomberg reported.
{{/usCountry}}Netflix expressed satisfaction with its progress and said that the advertising tier has attracted new, cost-conscious customers. The majority of people who choose the advertising tier are new customers, not people downgrading from a more expensive plan, Bloomberg reported.
{{/usCountry}}(Input from Bloomberg wire)