Netflix Will End Password Sharing in 2023

Netflix will end password sharing starting next year. In the Wall Street Journal, a report indicates that the company plans to do away with the practice for good. A challenge for Netflix moving forward will be figuring out if they can even enact these changes without drawing the ire of longtime users. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they have enjoyed the benefits of increased viewing habits at home. But, a lot of those view that end up in press releases come from people looping in their relatives. One possible solution floated by insiders says that tracking IP addresses, login location and account activity could all be on the table at some point. It’s hard to see how any of the above changes doesn’t trigger an immediate outcry from fans. They have been helping keep the streaming giant afloat and could perceive the pushback as a signal to look elsewhere for content.

CEO Ted Sarandos recently spoke at the UBS Global Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. During his remarks, he identified there would be some quick pushback. “It feels a lot like the way you manage a price increase. … Consumers aren’t going to love it right out of the gate, but we need to show them why they should see value,” Sarandos said back then. 

Is Password Sharing Really A Problem?

A 2019 study argued that Netflix loses more than $135 million a month on people sharing their accounts with viewers outside of their households. (That would be $1.62 billion annually for those keeping score at home.) Back at that time, Netflix COO and Chief Product Officer Greg Peters explained how the company was exploring “consumer-friendly” ways to limit password sharing amongst users. Netflix pledged to have password-sharing fees going forward for borrowers. Certain markets have already seen the alerts.

“We’ve landed on a thoughtful approach to monetize account sharing and we’ll begin rolling this out more broadly starting in early 2023,” the company explained in a quarterly statement. “After listening to consumer feedback, we are going to offer the ability for borrowers to transfer their Netflix profile into their own account, and for sharers to manage their devices more easily and to create sub-accounts (‘extra member’), if they want to pay for family or friends. In countries with our lower-priced ad-supported plan, we expect the profile transfer option for borrowers to be especially popular.”

Do you think they will actually stop password sharing? Let us know down below!