Netflix has announced plans to start monetizing account sharing from 2023, meaning that if you plan on sharing your account with family and friends after the new feature has been implemented, you’re evidently going to be paying for more than just your monthly subscription.
The streaming giant announced this week that it plans to roll out monetizing accounts globally at the top of next year. If people plan to share their accounts with other people, there’ll be an option for them to create “sub accounts” or “extra members,” with each profile receiving its own personalized recommendations. “We’ve landed on a thoughtful approach to monetizing account sharing and we’ll begin rolling this out more broadly starting in early 2023,” the company said in a letter to shareholders.
Netflix investors as the company smashes all earnings expectations and adds 2.4 million subscribers versus 1 million expected.
The company expects to add 4.5 million subscribers next quarter. 😮pic.twitter.com/A91j1iNfdl
— Dare Obasanjo (@Carnage4Life) October 18, 2022
RELATED: Netflix New Series ‘From Scratch’ Tells A Real Life Love Story Starring Zoe Saldana
“After listening to consumer feedback, we are going to offer the ability for borrowers to transfer their Netflix profile into their own account, and for sharers to manage their devices more easily and to create subaccounts (“extra member”), if they want to pay for family or friends.” The decision comes just months after Netflix began charging users in Latin America $2.99 if the account was being used outside of the subscriber’s immediate home.
It’s said that a whopping 100 million households have been using Netflix without paying, which is why executives have decided to hatch a plan to tackle the problem that has also affected the firm’s year-to-year earnings. Of course, Netflix will want to tread lightly with its new plans for 2023, considering it now faces stiff competition from the likes of HBO Max, Disney+, and Amazon Prime, whose subscriber counts are rapidly increasing.
It begs the question of whether people will still want to stick around and continue using Netflix if sharing an account with a friend or a family member will mean that current subscribers will have to pay an additional amount on top of the monthly fee it costs to watch content on the platform.
Big takeaway from the Netflix earnings letter is that Netflix has heard all of the things you want it to change and it’s not going to do most of them.
— Peter Kafka (@pkafka) October 18, 2022
Still, Netflix continues to prove that its line-up of shows and movies are attracting millions of new subscribers each month. In September, for example, the company pulled in 2.4 million new subscribers, which was far more than what the company expected to make, according to quarterly earnings that were released to the public on Tuesday.
Before the year’s end, Netflix hopes to add another 4.5 million new subscribers, with tons of new original content expected to hit the streaming app right in time before Christmas, which tends to be the period where Netflix accumulates some of its highest viewing figures.