“I banned account sharing”…Netflix US new subscribers soar

Global online streaming service (OTT) Netflix’s move to restrict account sharing in the U.S. last month had the intended effect of spiking the number of new subscribers, according to an analysis.

According to data released by streaming industry analytics firm Antenna on Monday (Nov. 9), the number of daily new subscribers in the four days after Netflix announced its account sharing ban was the highest in the four-and-a-half years the company has been analyzing the data안전놀이터. The average daily sign-ups for the four days between March 24 and 27 were 73,000, a 102% increase over the previous 60-day average. The account sharing crackdown doubled the number of new signups. In particular, the two days of February 26 and 27 saw nearly 100,000 signups each.

“This is an even bigger increase than the increase in streaming viewers in March and April 2020, when the U.S. implemented lockdown policies to restrict people from leaving their homes due to the spread of COVID-19,” said Antena.

Initially, the industry anticipated that many people would stop subscribing altogether if they were unable to share their Netflix accounts, but since March 23, the ratio of new subscriptions to cancellations has only increased by 25.6% over the previous 60 days.

The news sent Netflix shares to a new 52-week high on U.S. exchanges, hitting $425.90 intraday. That’s a 159% increase in just over a year, compared to last June when the stock fell to $164.28, and it’s up more than 40% since the start of the year. Notably, the stock has risen 20% in the 12 trading days since the account sharing ban was announced on March 23 (based on a closing price of $355.99).

Netflix announced on March 23 that it would limit account sharing with other household members in the U.S. to ensure that its subscription accounts are used within a single household. Customers who want to add non-household members to an existing account will have to pay $7.99 a month or more. Netflix previously piloted a ban on account sharing in some South American countries, which “resulted in a short-term drop in subscribers, but over time, subscriber growth returned,” and the company is confident that “the ban will ensure a larger revenue base in the long run.”

Netflix has said many times before that it would gradually discourage account sharing, saying it was struggling to improve its profitability as subscribers around the world shared accounts to get free viewing.