June 9 (Portal) – Daily US signups for Netflix (NFLX.O) have skyrocketed in the first few days after the streaming giant’s crackdown on password sharing went into effect on May 23, according to data by the research company Antenna showed.
The news sent the company’s shares up 2.3% in early trade to $418.92.
Looking for new ways to make money in a saturated market and trying economy, Netflix has decided to regulate sharing account passwords with friends and family – a drastic reversal for a company that once tweeted, “Love is this Sharing a Password”.
Netflix estimated that more than 100 million households had shared their login credentials with people outside of their homes. Under the new rules, US users can add a member away from home for an additional fee of $8 per month.
This image dated March 19, 2020 shows small toy figures in front of the displayed Netflix logo. Portal/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
His calculations seem to have worked out, as the company saw nearly 100,000 daily logins on both May 26 and May 27, according to Antenna.
Netflix, which has expanded its crackdown to more than 100 other countries, did not immediately respond to a Portal request for comment.
The streaming video pioneer recorded the four highest user acquisition days in the US in the four-and-a-half years that Antenna has reported on the company after the change went into effect.
The recent surge also surpassed levels seen during the first US COVID-19 lockdowns in March and April 2020, according to Antenna. The company sources data from third-party data collectors who, with permission, track online purchase receipts and credit, debit, and bank details.
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Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Edited by Devika Syamnath
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