Netflix plans wide implementation of measures to curb password-sharing soon

After Netflix reported losses of subscribers last year, the company had tried to bounce back with measures like cheaper, ad-supported plans and suppression of password-sharing. These are already active in a handful of countries, though they will be employed widely this year. As per reports, password-sharing out of one household or location will be chargeable. In a report to shareholders (quoted by The Guardian), Netflix said, "While our terms of use limit use of Netflix to a household, we recognise this is a change for members who share their account more broadly. As we roll out paid sharing, members in many countries will also have the option to pay extra if they want to share Netflix with people they don’t live with. As is the case today, all members will be able to watch while travelling, whether on a TV or mobile device.”

The feature has already been added in a few South American countries like Argentina, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

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“As we work through this transition – and as some borrowers stop watching either because they don’t convert to extra members or full paying accounts – near term engagement, as measured by third parties, like Nielsen’s The Gauge, could be negatively impacted. However, we believe the pattern will be similar to what we’ve seen in Latin America, with engagement growing over time as we continue to deliver a great slate of programming and borrowers sign-up for their own accounts.” Netflix continued.

Earlier, there were no limitations on the number of devices and locations one could enjoy Netflix.

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Chengyi Long, the Director of Product Innovation at Netflix, had said in a statement last year: "Over the last 15 years, we’ve worked hard to build a streaming service that’s easy to use, including for people who travel or live together. It’s great that our members love Netflix movies and TV shows so much they want to share them more broadly. But today’s widespread account sharing between households undermines our long-term ability to invest in and improve our service. So we’ve been carefully exploring different ways for people who want to share their account to pay a bit more. In March 2022, we launched an 'add extra member' feature in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru."

The troubles of the company really began when legacy film studios like Disney and Warner Bros decided to jump on the streaming bandwagon with services like Disney+ and HBO Max and began to eat into Netflix's share. Unlike Netflix, these services come bundled with several decades of legacy content, including millions of hours of well-loved, and rewatch-friendly TV shows like Lizzie McGuire (in the case of Disney +) and 'Friends' (in case of HBO Max).

In April last year, Netflix reported that about 200,000 subscribers said goodbye to their subscriptions, which was the first time in more than a decade that the company lost users, instead of gaining them. The execs had actually expected to gain 2.5 million subscribers. Then between April and July last year, the service lost almost a million subscribers. But it had expected an even bigger drop. Its losses were somewhat curtailed by 'Stranger Things 4', which debuted in two volumes in 2022.

But still, the subscriber loss was the biggest in the company's history. The company does appear to have bounced back by the end of 2022, with 231 million subscribers (a gain of 7 million).

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