According to data from research firm Antenna, Netflix’s recent efforts to crack down on password sharing seem to be paying off. The company started informing its U.S. customers last month that individuals outside their household accessing their account would need to be added as an additional user or get their own subscription.
Since then, Netflix has experienced the highest number of sign-ups in the U.S. on four specific days, which are the largest since January 2019 when Antenna began collecting such data. Just three days after Netflix started notifying U.S. customers about the password sharing changes, the streaming service received nearly 100,000 sign-ups each day on May 26 and 27.
During the period from May 25 to May 28, Netflix experienced a significant increase in daily sign-ups, averaging 73,000, which was a 102% rise from the previous 60-day average.
This surge surpassed the spikes in subscriber sign-ups seen during the initial COVID-19 lockdowns in March and April 2020 when people were seeking entertainment options. While Netflix did witness an increase in cancellations during this period, the number of new sign-ups outweighed the cancellations by a ratio that was 25.6% higher than the previous 60-day period.
Netflix initially tested its strategy of converting password sharers into paying customers in several Latin American countries and later expanded it to other countries, including Canada, New Zealand, Spain, and finally the United States last month.
The new policy requires subscribers to pay an additional $8 per month for each user outside their household, making it more cost-effective than the ad-free plan but pricier than the ad-supported tier. Netflix has also facilitated the process of migrating user profiles and preferences to new individual accounts for those who choose to create their own.
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