Netflix Password Sharing Crackdown Works, U.S. Subscriber Numbers Soar

[Malouff]

How do people think actors get paid, the film industry grows and survives and shareholders in Netflix derive something from their investment?

They usually get paid a lot less by streaming services that Netflix started. That's one of the reasons we currently have a writers strike in America. We will also be having the Actors approved strike if an agreement isn't meet in time. Netflix should stop being so greedy and pay the writers and actors a fair wage. This isn't 2007 where Netflix got them to agree that streaming doesn’t deserve fair wages. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/11/business/media/netflix-writers-strike.html

 

[Shanghaichica]

We need to che k those number in the long term, it could work for them, for me and my friends it is crap how much Netflix charge for 4K and quality of many of the series are very low. We switched to AppleTV+ and sincerely I'm shocked about AppleTV+ streaming quality and content quality, many of my all time favorite series are on TV+, so since it is quite cheap for now and I have little free time, for me it is more than enough.
I was one of the Easley supporter of Netflix, at least here in Italy, but sadly I don’t like their recent choices and prices. Still Netflix changed the market.

The 4K plan with 4 screens should allow password sharing. It costs enough.

 

[d686546s]

Why does anyone bother with Netflix? Gosh, Tubi, Pluto TV, and Plex have added so many good (and legally free) movies with ads to watch that I no longer see the point. Surely it's not for their garbage programming.

Because of the ads. I pay streaming services because I want to watch legally and without ads.

 

[d686546s]

The canary in the coal mine here is how many people decide to try piracy as a result of this.

Once people get used to pirating their TV shows and movies, it's going to be hard to convince them to back to paying for multiple different packages with all sorts of artificial restrictions.

By all accounts, piracy has been on an upward trend the past few years, and these sorts of decisions will only increase that trend.

*for the moral police here, I am not condoning piracy, but simply pointing out that there is a tipping point to price increases from which there may be no return.

Morality aside, there's a function between price and convenience for most people that makes them more or less likely to engage in piracy.

Netflix and all the other streamers always had to compete against completely free entertainment from other sources. Piracy is easy if you know how to, but you still need to go out and get the stuff yourself, maintain your libraries, have a VPN and so on.

Netflix et al became successful because for a modest price all the entertainment you could ever need was right at your fingertips. I think that's still true, but the fragmentation of the market might tip the balance at some point with people just not prepared to pay a whole host of services because everyone wants a slice of the pie.

The easiest then is to go to the one source that has it all and is free. Not because it's moral and right, but because they can. People can get annoyed at that all they want, but the pragmatic thing to do is deal with that reality by offering services people will sign up for.

 

[mazz0]

Antenna says that the ratio of signups to cancels since May 23 is up 25.6 percent

That’s not a ratio. I think you mean the number of cancellations is 25% as large as the number of new signups, but that’s not at all what you said.

 

[Longplays]

Everyone should cancel their Netflix account. Save yourself some money and a headache 🤕

Spend more time sleeping earlier and longer for 8+ hours sleep.

 

[traderdude123]

Is Netflix content even worth sharing passwords?

 

[TheOldChevy]

I give credit where credit is due. Tim Cook followed the instructions Jobs gave him before he passed to a tee. He basically inherited an empire on the cusp of explosive growth because of the iPhone.

Mind you Zuckerberg is the only founder left amongst big tech. If anybody can do anything revolutionary, it has to be him.

Steve passed away more than 10 years ago. I know he was a visionary, but 10 years is a long time for predictions...

 

[filchermcurr]

Has it gone into effect? The people I share my account with are still able to access it.

 

[timber]

This is just a price increase in a different form.
Some people will still see value in Netflix, others won't and that's fine.
Between me and my brother we subscribe all streaming services and share them with our mother.
Of course not all offer comparable value and Netflix in particular wasn't very good (it costs as much as several others combined and nowadays mostly junk shows) but it was keept going as someone could be watching something.
Now Netflix got dropped (a few months ago, in Europe). I will subscribe for one month to finish Stranger Things.
If Netflix works for others that's great.

 

[lysingur]

Steve passed away more than 10 years ago. I know he was a visionary, but 10 years is a long time for predictions...

As far as I know, iPhone still generates the most revenue for Apple and it wasn't Tim Cook on the stage in June 2007. 😉

Name one product or service envisioned and realized entirely by Tim Cook without which Apple wouldn't survive as a company.

Case closed.

 

[The point and shoot pro]

We jumped ship years ago when our sub went from 9.99 to 15.99 to a max of 23.99 Cdn dollars of course. But the straw that broke the camel's back for us was the removal of everything we were in the middle of watching. Some went to Disney; some went to other services. So, it was 23 dollars wasted for content we were not interested in.

 

[jayducharme]

Technically they're right, 720p IS HD

Yes, technically. But in these days of 4k and 8k, 720 is the new 480.

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

Yes, technically. But in these days of 4k and 8k, 720 is the new 480.

True . It's something typical of apple too mind you, playing with words nay inventing their own to describe something that's just standard or outdated

 

[cawgijoe]

We have the 4K plan with four streams. My wife and I never use four streams at once. It made sense to share the account with our kids when it was allowed to fully utilize the plan. Now that we can’t do that anymore, we could lower our plan, but there is a real problem with that. I want 4K. I have to pay $20 because there is no other option.
How about a 2 stream 4K plan option at $10 per month?

 

[contacos]

Next: pay yearly or 4€ extra each month for the „privilege“ of cancelling monthly

 

[boss.king]

Those contributors here and elsewhere who seem to think they should have something for nothing leave me almost speechless. Netflix ask for relatively little in return for their service. How do people think actors get paid, the film industry grows and survives and shareholders in Netflix derive something from their investment?

Come on now. Yes, it's important that directors and actors get paid, devs get paid, etc, but can we stop pretending that any of us are supposed to care about shareholders?

 

[cawgijoe]

As others have said, this is a price increase packaged differently.

 

[Umacga]

Don't fool yourself, kiddo. They haven't started kicking anyone off yet. Once that happens the cancellations will ramp up.

I think you are overestimating the number of people who steal the service.

 

[Unami]

Subscriber numbers don't equal revenue, so it's not the whole story we're getting here. I plan to hold onto my shared account until they start kicking people off (as I already got the money until december from the other three people whom I share it with), and will then cancel my account. Maybe 2 of these 4 will get Netflix but probably only one, if even, and 7'm dure she won't get rhe €18 4k account. So in my case they'll probably be down 40% with the same number of subscribers or up by 20% by gaining one. All in all, I guess it will pay off for them in the long run - and also for me, because I'll save some money and just pirate their shows again.

 

[Umacga]

Are you receiving any kind of compensation or reward for defending a multi-billion dollar conglomeration? Or do you just enjoy arguing with others?

The “I’m entitled to stuff because I’m special and if you disagree you’re a capitalist pig“ crowd is almost as annoying as the “Everything I hate is woke” folks.

 

[icanhazmac]

My stepmother-in-law has an interesting strategy: I would call it
streaming provider hopping

She subscribes to one service for a month or two and then the next for a time and so on. That keeps the content fresher. It feels like you get more for your money.

Apparently this has been a thing for a few years now.

streaming subscription hopping at DuckDuckGo

duckduckgo.com

For a few years now? It has been a thing for as long as streaming has been around.

10 Subscribe to service with desired content
20 Binge content
30 Unsubscribe
40 Goto 10

Anyone who subs to all services, all the time, isn't very smart IMHO, you may as well have kept cable. We keep 2 services at any given time, plus Prime. Get tired of one? Switch to another. Rinse and repeat.

 

[I7guy]

New Limited-Time Series Coming to Netflix: The Rise and Fall of Netflix.

Mark my words, Netflix will crumble to dust in the coming year. I don't know which lunatic created and green-lit this stupid idea, but it will be their undoing, as they signed their death pact.

In 2011 there were rumblings on these forum saying essentially the same about apple. And well here we are today.

 

[GalileoSeven]

The canary in the coal mine here is how many people decide to try piracy as a result of this.

Once people get used to pirating their TV shows and movies, it's going to be hard to convince them to back to paying for multiple different packages with all sorts of artificial restrictions.

By all accounts, piracy has been on an upward trend the past few years, and these sorts of decisions will only increase that trend.

*for the moral police here, I am not condoning piracy, but simply pointing out that there is a tipping point to price increases from which there may be no return.

This. Between torrents & streaming sites (where downloading stuff is somewhat trivial), it wouldn't surprise me if technically savvy folks who would've otherwise paid for Netflix (or one of the plethora of other services) go this route and never look back.

 

[phenste]

They haven't started kicking anyone off yet. That's when their numbers will likely drop.

This (small) increase in signups is just the addicts who were scared into signing up for their own accounts instead of being kicked off eventually.

Most won't do that when Netflix finally takes their access away.

someone I know has actually already stopped being able to share accounts—they were quick to cancel. will be interesting to see what happens when the ability truly gets shuttered nationwide.