Netflix is set to charge users for password-sharing starting early next year. The streaming giant already has been testing these account-sharing charges in Latin America after the platforms experienced its global decline in membership for the first time in almost a decade if not so.
Netflix Is Set To Charge Users for Password-Sharing
Streaming platform Netflix at the moment is gearing up in its efforts in getting freeloading viewers in paying up and the platform very soon will start charging accounts in the early parts of next year for password sharing, thus instituting a system that will add fees to your plan for extra member subaccounts when users outside of your household make use of your membership.
The Price of the New Plan
Netflix did not specify on the price of these new feeds when the plan was confirmed on Tuesday. That being said, the scheme already is being tested out in a couple of Latin American countries and charges a fee for each extra member with roughly one-quarter of the price of a standard Netflix plan.
And if Netflix should stick to that practice, then the extra member subaccount in the United States would reportedly cost between about $3.50 to $4. After so many years of being fair and calm about password sharing, the streaming platform began testing mediums to get shared accounts to pay after it dealt with its deepest subscriber losses in the early parts of this year. And in addition to the password-sharing fees, Netflix is also planning to launch cheaper subscription plans that will be supported by advertising in the coming month.
The Influence of the Streaming Wars on the Streaming Industry
The dominance of streaming video and not to also mention the unflinching subscriber growth has pushed close to all of Hollywood’s major media companies in putting billions of dollars into their very own streaming operations. And these so-called streaming wars have brought about a whole wave of new services such as Apple TV Plus, HBO Max, Disney Plus, Peacock, and Paramount Plus among many others. This caused a flood of streaming options that has now complicated the number of services that you must utilize in order to watch your favorite movies and shows online.
Now, feeling the heat of the competition in the industry to hold onto your attention and your subscription account, the streaming platform Netflix is now going after strategies that it previously dismissed for years.
Netflix’s Password-Sharing Scheme Has Been in Testing
The password-sharing fee system that Netflix is about to roll out more broadly seems to be modeled on a scheme it has been testing out in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru for close to six months now.
Netflix Is Set To Launch a Profile-Transfer Feature
Netflix on Monday said that it was launching a profile-transfer feature, which is an important component of the password-sharing fees being tested in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. This feature will allow a profile that is created on a shared Netflix account to transfer its watch history and recommendations to a new, and independent account. This new account created can then also be added to somebody else’s Standard or Premium subscription plan.
Netflix Said It Would Try a Different Method in Argentina and Other Latin American Countries
Netflix back in July said it would test out a different method in Argentina, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. This test established an account’s primary residence known as the “home” for the membership. Streaming at any extra households for over two weeks would then prompt the account to set up and pay for additional “homes,” with a limit on just how many additional homes you can add depending on how much you’re already paying for Netflix. The streaming giant appears to be eschewing this model in favor of the other one it tested.
