Netflix Just Lost A Million Users Because Of Its Password Policy
By cracking down on password sharing, Netflix lost over a million users.
In the United States, everyone is bracing themselves for Netflix to end their password sharing policy. The streaming company has already implemented its new policy in Spain, which has caused them to lose millions of users, according to Time. The huge drop in users comes just after the company announced the end of its DVD business and its terribly botched Love is Blind live event.
Netflix is no longer going to play dumb and let multiple people all use the same streaming account for the price of one. Instead, they are going to charge an additional fee to allow users to add members to their accounts. Currently, the company is charging Spanish subscribers €5.99 ($6.57) for each member outside of the household.
When they started implementing the new “no sharing password” policy, Netflix anticipated a drop off in users. However, they also expected users who were mooching off of their family’s accounts to step up and start their own account for a basic plan at $9.99 per month, or a basic plan with ads for only $6.99 per month. If users want to go all out with the Netflix premium plan for $19.99 per month, then they will be able to watch content on four supported devices at a time and be able to download content on six supported devices at a time.
Before launching the new policy in the United States, Netflix is testing the waters in our neighbor to the north, Canada. So far, they have seen an impressive growth in their paid membership base, which is now higher than before the policy was in place. This is, of course, causing a huge growth in revenue, with Canada surpassing the United States in revenue.
With more than 100 million people worldwide using shared Netflix accounts, it’s no wonder the company wants to crack down on password sharing. The first countries to begin seeing monthly add-on fees for users have been Spain, Portugal, Canada, and New Zealand. If each country has the same reaction as Canada, then this can be a huge profit gain for the streaming company.
After all, who wouldn’t want access to the ever-growing library of movies and TV shows on Netflix? Currently, viewers can stream hit TV shows like The Night Agent, Stranger Things, Better Call Saul, and You, along with top movies like Murder Mystery 2, Matilda, and Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax. However, fans aren’t happy that there are some shows being canceled or removed from Netflix, including popular shows like New Girl, Big Mouth, and iZombie.
If users don’t want to pay up for their own Netflix subscription, then they can head to other paid streaming services like Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, and Amazon Prime. If they don’t want to pay, then they can opt to use free streaming services like Amazon Freevee, Crackle, Hoopla, and the Roku Channel, though they most likely will have to deal with a lot of interrupting ads.
There isn’t a set date for when Netflix will start its new password policy in the United States, but it is expected to go into effect before July 2023.
