Netflix boosts new subscribers after password sharing change

(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) (Matt Rourke, Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Netflix has reported a boost in new subscribers less than one month after changing password sharing rules in the United States.

Last month, the streaming service said it would limit U.S. viewership of its programming to people living in the same household. Those who subscribe to Netflix’s standard or premium plans — which cost $15.50 to $20 per month — will be able to allow another person living outside their household to use their password for an additional $8 per month, a $2 discount from the company’s basic plan.

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Netflix added 100,000 new accounts on both May 26 and May 27, shortly after the crackdown went into effect, according to data collected by streaming analytics company Antenna on Friday. In the following days, Netflix has seen a more than 100% increase in sign-ups from the prior 60-day average.

The data found that Netflix had its “four single largest days” of new user sign-ups in the United States in late May in the more than four years that firm has been measuring the service.

The long-anticipated move will end a tendency the company allowed to go unchecked for years while its streaming service was attracting subscribers.


About the Authors

Veronica Crespo writes for Local10.com and also oversees the Español section of the website. Born and raised in Miami, she graduated from the University of Miami, where she studied broadcast journalism and Spanish.

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