Data from research firm Antenna reveals that daily sign-ups for Netflix in the United States have surged following the implementation of the streaming giant’s crackdown on password-sharing on 23 May. This news led to a 2.3 per cent increase in the company’s shares, reaching USD 418.92 during early trading.
In an effort to generate revenue in a saturated market and challenging economic conditions, Netflix decided to regulate the practice of sharing account passwords with friends and family. This marked a significant shift for a company that had previously promoted the idea of password sharing by tweeting “Love is sharing a password.”
Netflix estimated that over 100 million households had shared their login credentials with individuals residing outside their homes. Under the new policy, US users can include an additional member outside their household by paying an extra monthly fee of eight US dollars. The effectiveness of this approach is evident as the company experienced nearly 100,000 daily sign-ups on both 26 as well as 27 May, according to Antenna’s data.
Netflix has extended its password-sharing crackdown to more than 100 other countries. Antenna, which has been covering Netflix for the past 4.5 years, reported that the recent surge in sign-ups represents the four highest days of user acquisition in the United States since its coverage began. Moreover, the increase surpassed the levels observed during the initial lockdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in March and April 2020.
Antenna obtains its data from third-party collectors that track online purchase receipts, credit and debit transactions, and banking details with appropriate permissions.