streaming giant
Netflix launches action against account free riders
Netflix believes that around 100 million households use someone else’s login data. On the other hand, the streaming giant now wants to take action in Germany as well. Exactly how remains a mystery.
Things are getting serious for Netflix users in Germany who share an account across a household. The streaming giant informed its customers on Tuesday that it will soon be charging additional money for this. For each person who does not live under the same roof as the paying account holder, 4.99 euros per month should be due. Netflix is hoping for more revenue from this.
Netflix promises that users from one household can continue to access the shared account on the go or while traveling without any problems. Netflix keeps secret the exact characteristics by which the service’s systems recognize that a user does not belong to the same household. This is to prevent the measures from being circumvented.
100 million households use someone else’s login data
The US company assumes that around 100 million households use the service with login data from others. That’s a high proportion of the 232.5 million paying customers in the past quarter. Netflix had long tolerated the sharing of credentials. In the meantime, however, there has generally been an increased focus on profitability in the video streaming business after the many providers had been hunting for higher user numbers for years.
The crackdown on account sharing had been announced for some time, and Netflix was testing it in several countries before the broad launch that has now been announced. In Europe it was Portugal and Spain.
Increased focus on profitability
Netflix expects that the number of users will initially decrease with the action against free riders. In Canada, for example, there are now more paying users and higher income than before, the service recently emphasized. This made you feel validated. Netflix has not yet commented on developments in other countries. The start of the procedure in the important US market was also announced on Tuesday.
At 4.99 euros, the extension in Germany is just as expensive as the cheapest Netflix subscription, where the service can be used with advertisements. The most expensive subscription with better picture and sound quality costs 17.99 euros per month.