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Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown scores subscriber windfall as daily signups DOUBLE: Streaming giant says more than 100 MILLION people across the globe borrowed logins
- Netflix saw surge of new sign-ups after launching password sharing crackdown
- Daily signups approached 100,000 in the two days following the move
- Spike even topped the surges recorded in the early days of the pandemic
Daily sign-ups for Netflix surged in the first few days after the streaming giant’s password-sharing crackdown came into effect, new data show.
After it began alerting subscribers of the crackdown on May 23, Netflix had the four single largest days of US user acquisition on record, according to research firm Antenna, which has been tracking the data since 2019.
On both May 26 and May 27, Netflix had nearly 100,000 daily sign-ups, and over the four-day period, average daily sign-ups reached 73,000, an increase of 102 percent from the prior 60-day average.
The news sent shares of the company up nearly 3 percent, to $421.50, in afternoon trading on Friday.
Daily sign-ups for Netflix surged in the first few days after the streaming giant’s password-sharing crackdown came into effect, new data show
Arnold Schwarzenegger is seen in the new Netflix action series Fubar, one of the top 10 shows on the streaming service currently
Prior to the crackdown, Netflix had estimated that more than 100 million households had supplied their log-in credentials to people outside their homes.
Seeking to boost revenue in a saturated streaming market, Netflix last month launched its password-sharing crackdown — a drastic turnaround for a company that once tweeted ‘Love is sharing a password’.
Under the new rules, US users can add a member outside of their homes for an additional fee of $8 per month.
The strategy seems to have paid off, as new sign-ups surged in late May, even topping the prior record numbers seen in the early days of COVID-19 lockdowns, according to the data from Antenna.
Antenna noted that while account cancellations also increased during the period from May 24-27, they did not rise as quickly as new signups.
The ratio of signups to cancels since May 23 is up 25.6 percent compared to the previous 60-day period, the firm said.
Seeking to boost revenue in a saturated streaming market, Netflix last month launched its password-sharing crackdown
Netflix has certainly changed its tune since tweeting ‘Love is sharing a password’ in 2017
Antenna sources its signup data from third-party data collectors that track online purchase receipts, credit, debit and banking data details with customer permissions.
Netflix, which has expanded its crackdown to more than 100 other countries, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Netflix last year said it was going to limit account sharing and was testing various approaches in some markets.
In January, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters also acknowledged that the crackdown might risk more subscriber cancellations.
‘It’s worth noting that this will not be a universally popular move,’ Peters advised investors.
As of the end of March, Netflix’s paying customers totaled 232.5 million globally.
