Many Netflix users share their account and password with others to watch series and movies. However, this disrupts the streaming service tremendously; and is now taking action.
Kassel – For people who share a Netflix account with friends or relatives, things will soon get serious – or more expensive. The American streaming giant has announced that it will soon take decisive action against password sharing. It should be ready before the end of this quarter, i.e. by the end of June 2023.
Netflix wants to make it more difficult for subscribers to share passwords with other users
So anyone who streams films and series as a free rider on another user's account will have to pay extra in the future – at least if he or she does not live under the same roof as the account holder. In this case, it will soon be necessary to create a so-called sub-account for extra members, which will be subject to a fee. Netflix had already made similar considerations public in 2022, but ultimately backtracked.
The new system is already active in some countries (including Canada, New Zealand, Spain and Portugal). Netflix customers must set their primary location and control who has access to the account via a "Manage Access and Devices" page. "Additional members" must be booked by customers.
Sub-accounts can only use Netflix on a single device and can only create one profile (not a child profile). You must be in the same country as the main account and get the offer that the main user pays for. That means: the same resolution, the same offer.
The background to the now planned innovation: According to Netflix estimates, around 100 million households use the login data of people who are not part of their own household, as the company explains in a press release. A comparatively high proportion of potential new customers who pay nothing to the streaming giant: In the first quarter of 2023, Netflix earned from around 232.5 million paying customers.
It is still possible to share an account on Netflix; but for an extra charge – probably from the end of June
Netflix wants to turn users for free into paying subscribers with a corresponding offer – and some pressure from outside. At least that's the streaming giant's currently planned strategy. Therefore, Netflix now wants to introduce appropriate measures in a large part of the countries that make password sharing more difficult, reports the German Press Agency (dpa).
In Germany, too, this is likely to be the case before the end of June. Other European countries have already been converted to a new system of use. In Portugal and Spain, for example, additional users outside one's own household can be registered separately via a so-called profile transfer. In Spain, the additional profiles cost 5.99 euros more, in Portugal only 3.99 euros. For Germany, the planned price is likely to be based on the higher amount, chip.de suspects. Netflix does not offer sub-accounts for basic accounts with ads.
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My Area
| Land | Base Costs | Cost per sub-account |
| Spain | 12,99 Euro | 5,99 Euro |
| Canada | 11,11 Euro | 5,54 Euro |
| New Zealand | 10,51 Euro | 4,70 Euro |
| Portugal | 11,99 Euro | 3,99 Euro |
| Germany | 12,99 Euro | Not yet known. |
Through "paid sharing", Netflix expects numerous additional subscriptions – and more revenue
As a result, the company expects sales growth for the second half of 2023. Since 2022, subscriber numbers had declined significantly after they had literally exploded in the first two years of the Corona pandemic because people were banishing boredom in lockdown by streaming series.
There was also competition from all sides with numerous additional streaming providers such as Disney, Warner and Apple. Netflix lost 1.2 million subscribers in the first half of 2022. In Canada, where paid password sharing has already been introduced, the plan apparently worked. The number of paying subscribers there is now higher than before, as tagesschau.de writes.
It is not yet known how Netflix intends to control the unauthorized sharing of an account
The company has not yet provided any precise information on how Netflix intends to control whether there is an unauthorized multiple use of an account. Nor about how to handle the new regulation for premium accounts, in which up to five profiles can be registered and which allow simultaneous streaming on four devices.
Stream on multiple devices with one account? No problem – but only for people from the same household. © Beata Zawrzel/IMAGO
A regulation for premium accounts with multiple profiles is also planned
At the request of hna.de of IPPEN. Media does not yet want to commit itself to Netflix in this regard and points out that the information on how exactly the regulation for premium accounts is planned is not yet available in detail, but will be published in the foreseeable future. According to chip.de, it should be possible to invite a user from another household with a standard subscription, while with a premium subscription there should be two users from outside the household. However, there is also an additional fee for non-household users.
Netflix wants to score points with its range of series and films and win new subscribers
Netflix, which achieved far-reaching international success with numerous in-house productions such as the popular mystery series "Stranger Things" or the romantic story of "Emily in Paris", says it is betting that the films and series on offer will have enough appeal to persuade today's free riders to pay, dpa reports . By the way, with a few tricks, the selection on Netflix can be expanded, because many films and series on the platform are "hidden".