Paid strategy for Netflix: Ending account sharing drives subscription growth in the US

Still in the early stages, the end of account sharing on Netflix appears to be working in the United States, turning “illegal” users into paying customers, according to early data from research firm Antenna (via Variety ).

On May 23, Netflix notified its US customers that customers who did not live under the same roof would need to be added as “Extra Members” (or get their own subscriptions). So if you share your Netflix password with someone who doesn’t live with you, you now have to pay an extra $7.99 a month to add another user to your account. The streaming giant said at the time that it would block devices that try to access the account without legitimate access.

Since the launch of the event, Netflix has seen its four biggest sign-up days in the country since January 2019, when the antenna began tracking. According to their latest data, May 25-28 saw 73,000 average daily registrations, up 102% from the previous 60-day average. This increase is stronger than the peak of registrations recorded by the antenna due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March and April 2020.

However, in return, cancellations of subscriptions in the United States also increased from May 25 to May 28 – a phenomenon that was expected by the company – but this was lower than the number of registrations, again according to Antenna. Since May 23, the ratio of registrations to cancellations has increased by 25.6% over the previous 60-day period.

In France, the same announcement was made on May 24: now they ask for 5.99 euros per month to add an additional user. It is too early to know the effect: will the event have the same results here? The case will follow.