Netflix password crackdown gains more than 13 million subscribers

Since Netflix's decision to retract its password-sharing feature had been put into effect last year, the platform saw a considerable rise in its number of subscribers. The number in question is a staggering 13 million subscribers and counting.

The move was implemented after internal research highlighted that several users were using and paying for one account for their streaming purposes instead of subscribing and paying for multiple individual ones. This accounted for huge losses to the company which was keen on subsiding on every individual activity on the platform.

Thus, they introduced the concept of "paid sharing" where several members of a family or groups of friends could share an account while paying a nominal monthly or yearly fee for the same. The move was first put into effect last year in the United States from where it slowly made its way elsewhere.

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How much did Netflix gain in subscribers after password-sharing crackdown?

Netflix gained over 13 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2023, the most by a streaming platform (Image via Unsplash)

Netflix gained as many as 13.12 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2023, following its decision to roll out its "paid sharing" option. The news surprised industry experts who had projected that the enterprise would rake in somewhere between 8 million to 10 million subscribers.

The decision to crack down on its password-sharing option came last year after the media giant realized through internal research that members of a family and common friends were more prone to sharing one account rather than creating multiple ones. The company saw this as a business opportunity and decided to make some changes to their subscription packages.

The changes as put forward by the OTT platform read:

"Account owners on a Standard or Premium plan in many countries can share Netflix with someone who doesn't live with them by adding an extra member to their account. The account owner will need to purchase an extra member slot, then invite an extra member to use the extra member slot."

As reported by Forbes, following the move, the revenue for the company rose to an inapprehensible $8.83 billion, a notch higher than its third-quarter earnings, which were a staggering $8.54 billion.

Following the outbreak of the news of its huge success in terms of revenue and subscription, in a letter shared with its shareholders, the company said:

“Our healthy top line growth reflects the benefits of paid sharing, our recent price changes, and the strength of our underlying business driven by a strong slate."

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Netflix introduced a pocket-friendly ad-supportive platform

Netflix is expected to rake in more viewers in the first quarter of 2024 (Image via Unsplash/Teslariu Mihai)

Netflix has always maintained that its platform is more content-oriented and as a result, they have always been against the idea of paid ads on their platform. However, that has changed slightly in the last year since it decided to include "paid sharing" on its platform.

The company introduced its ad-supported plans last year and ever since the password-sharing crackdown and increase in subscription plan rates, the tier has seen a considerable increase in the number of subscribers.

There has been a considerable move from the ad-free standard platform to the ad-inclusive counterpart following the revised subscription rates, a trend that has not gone unnoticed by the company itself.

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Netflix is expected to chip in more profits by the end of the first quarter. As reported by Forbes, the company had an estimated revenue of $9.2 billion in its first quarter.