Netflix Sees A Spike In Subscription Following Password-Sharing Crackdown

Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown appears to be working in the US, according to the data analytics company Antenna.

It says that the streaming giant saw a huge spike in subscribers after paid sharing policies went live on May 23. The report says that Netflix has seen nearly 100,000 daily signups on two of the days, CNBC reported.

On May 23, the streaming giant sent out emails to its members that it was changing its sharing guidelines.

“Your Netflix account is for you and the people you live with – your household,” the company said in an email that has been sent to members since then.

The news sent shares of the company up 2.3 per cent to $418.92 in early trading.

Looking for new ways to make money in a saturating market and a tough economy, Netflix moved to regulate the sharing of account passwords with friends and family – a drastic turnaround for a company that had once tweeted “Love is sharing a password”.

Netflix had estimated that more than 100 million households had supplied their log-in credentials to people outside their homes. Under the new rules, U.S. users can add a member outside of their homes for an additional fee of $8 per month.

Its calculations seem to have paid off as the company recorded nearly 100,000 daily sign-ups on both May 26 and May 27, according to Antenna.

The streaming video pioneer saw its four largest days of U.S. user acquisition after the change came into effect in the 4-1/2 years that Antenna has been covering the company.

The recent spike also exceeded levels seen during the initial U.S. COVID-19 lockdowns in March and April 2020, according to Antenna, which sources data from third-party data collectors that track online purchase receipts, credit, debit and banking data details with permissions.