Netflix is introducing a ‘paid sharing’ option for multiple users on the same account, as the streaming giant plans a crackdown on password-sharing ‘early this year’.
The plans to alter how people use the streaming giant may leave millions unable to watch their favourite shows and films if they are sharing an account with a friend or family member.
Under the new rules, people who have been watching Netflix using someone else’s account will have to create their own logins and pay for their own access.
The testing of the new feature is already underway, with a platform-wide rollout expected to come into effect by the end of March.
What do YOU think about Netflix’s new rules on sharing your account? Send an email to miriam.kuepper@mailonline.co.uk
The plans to alter how people use Netflix might leave millions without being able to watch their favourite shows and films as they are sharing an account (file image)
To enable people sharing an account, a new option, ‘paid sharing’, will be added, which will allow multiple users but cost less than a full subscription.
Accounts already come with five ‘profiles’, but these are solely for use by members of the same household.
‘Every account comes with five profiles that can be used by any member of the household’, a Netflix spokesperson said.
The new option comes in if people wish to share their Netflix account with friends and family who live elsewhere.
Netflix stated last week: ‘Later in Q1, we expect to start rolling out paid sharing more broadly.
‘Today’s widespread account sharing (100M+ households) undermines our long term ability to invest in and improve Netflix, as well as build our business.
‘We’ve worked hard to build additional new features that improve the Netflix experience, including the ability for members to review which devices are using their account and to transfer a profile to a new account.
‘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.’
The change is supposed to increase Netflix’s revenue in 2023.
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Their chief financial officer Spencer Neumann said one of the goals for this year is ‘nudging’ viewers who use passwords shared by subscribers to pay their own way.
He added: ‘We have high confidence in our ability to accelerate revenue throughout the course of the year as we scale ads and we launch paid sharing (of accounts).’
Netflix ended last year with 230million global subscriberws, beating expectations with hits like Wednesday and Harry & Meghan attracted new viewers.
The streaming giant said: ‘2022 was a tough year, with a bumpy start but a brighter finish.’
Netflix ended last year with 230million global subscriberws, beating expectations with hits like Wednesday (pictured)
The Netflix show Harry & Meghan (pictured) attracted new viewers
Netflix said they enticed 7.7 million new members in three months
The fresh titles helped attract users to a new lower-priced ‘Basic with Ads’ subscription, as consumers cut back on their entertainment spending amid soaring inflation and an uncertain economy.
Revenue in the October to December period, at $7.85 billion, was in line with estimates.
Netflix insists that counting new users is no longer the most important criteria for assessing the company’s health and that revenue should instead be the main metric.
‘What may be getting lost in the mix is that some number of new subscribers – we don’t know how many – likely came in on Netflix’s ad-supported tier,’ said Insider Intelligence principal analyst Paul Verna.
‘That means, most likely, lower average revenue per subscriber, which is a measure Wall Street will be paying more attention to as Netflix’s ad businesses scales up,’ he said.
Netflix faces strong competition from deep-pocketed rivals, including Disney+, which has also introduced an ad-based subscription.
But despite the challenges, Netflix is one of the rare tech giants to have garnered confidence from Wall Street with its share price up almost 50 percent in the past six months.
Other tech giants and Disney have been hammered on the markets as firms lay off employees and cut costs after a massive hiring and spending spree at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
