Netflix: Profits soar after password sharing crackdown

Netflix says its profits have soared in the first three months of this year, partly thanks to a crackdown on password sharing.

The streaming giant said it added 9.3 million customers in the first quarter, bringing its total number of subscribers to almost 270 million.

The company also said its profits in the first quarter jumped to more than $2.3bn (£1.85bn).

But the firm will stop reporting key subscriber numbers from next year.

…

Some investors saw its unexpected decision to stop reporting subscriber numbers as a sign that Netflix’s wave of customer growth may be coming to an end.

Simon Gallagher, a former Netflix director and now principal of entertainment investment firm SPG Global, told the BBC’s Today programme that while the numbers indicated a “very, very strong performance” this might not last.

RizzRustbolt,

Someone at the BBC is having themselves a bit of a larf with that thumbnail photo.

CptEnder,

Their sign up for password sharing is extremely aggressive too. Once you login to your TV it forces you to see the plan information without any option to say no or skip, regardless if you’ve shared your account before. You then have to select the other non default option to opt out. IF you accidentally hit ok after frustratingly trying to leave the prompt you get auto billed for the new fee zero confirmation of CC or purchase information. You then immediately have to enter the cell number of who you want to share with without letting you leave or go back. They want that person’s info regardless if you plan to share or not.

factotumus,

What is NetFlix? Is it a Stremio add-on?

Adalast,

Cool, so it doesn’t matter for the yo ho hos amongst us.

hperrin,

But what will they do next time they need to make line go up? I know! Increase prices again!

darkpanda,

Probably layoffs.

Tikiporch,

I’d pay slightly more than their current rate if they could get me much higher bitrate streaming. I can’t pay more for the same, though, and I fear that’s the tack they will take.

bradorsomething,

Oh, are they still open? I gave them up on that and the price increases, haven’t thought about Netflix in a while

WanderingVentra,

Ya I went to the seas instead. I’m glad to have not contributed to that rising profit, even if it only means a little.

SuperSpruce,

Ladies and gentlemen,

We have failed. We need to be better consumers, and do something about when businesses pull tricks like this. But we have failed to appropriately respond, and we will be paying a big price for this.

Now, every single subscription business and their mother will be cracking down on password sharing. It’ll be seen as guaranteed profit at the expense of our wallets and freedoms, and quickly ingrained into society.

dutchkimble,

Do what though? We can either unsubscribe, or subscribe. This is not a social service by them, nor is a gun being put to our heads to use Netflix. I really don’t mean to defend them, I prefer the high seas myself, but I genuinely feel there’s nothing we can or should do except either agree or disagree with them about subscribing to their plans.

SuperSpruce,

This is where the problem lies: We have pathetically little power over the situation. I try to do my best to avoid paying companies that abuse their paying customers and let others know about it.

CosmicCleric,
@CosmicCleric@lemmy.world avatar

This is where the problem lies: We have pathetically little power over the situation.

Collectively, we do. We just never do collectively.

Silentiea,
@Silentiea@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

My response to being told Netflix would stop my password sharing was to cancel my sub. And now, months later, I’m using someone else’s password to keep watching their shows…

chuckleslord,

I’m sorry, but you’re wrong. We didn’t fail. Netflix popularized a business model that most businesses would’ve cracked down on from the jump (password sharing) and then, once they controlled a sizable market of unique and desired IP, they did a rug pull. Blaming that on consumers is asinine. Everyone knew that the original practice was outside the norm and legally grey. And now your options are breaking the law or finally getting the subscription you probably would’ve been paying the whole time.

It’s part of enshittification. By offering more to a consumer than they’re used to from the jump, it builds a positive relationship, and then you undo the practice later to squeeze profit. Shaming the victims in the situation is a weird thing that a lot of people like to do.

SuperSpruce,

True, businesses try to seize all the opportunity for themselves, which is why I think we should do the same. It’s why I left Reddit for Lemmy, I didn’t want to keep supporting a platform that wasn’t respecting me.

ChexMax,

Or the third option which is to cancel Netflix even short term. I wasn’t password sharing, but when Netflix cracked down, we cancelled. We use the other services. I’m voting with my dollars.

Anderenortsfalsch,

We still share and it works flawlessly because non of us uses a television, all PC/laptop only and they can’t find out as it seems.

Brkdncr,

I use my account at two households without much issue. I wish they were a little more lenient, but it’s better than Hulu’s implementation. I canceled Hulu TV because of it.

JiveTurkey,

I canceled my Netflix because of this and I don’t even share my password. Also because they fucked up the witcher.

msage,

I didn’t really like the book (somebody handed me one, can’t remember which), haven’t played the games, so I went almost blind to the show.

And I mean it honestly, it was fun. Batshit crazy, and the third season went even more nuts, but it was just fun, I really enjoyed myself.

evatronic,

Just about any adaptation from book to TV is going to piss off book readers because they “ruined” it.

Myself, if I wanted to experience the exact same thing if read, I would read it again. Putting it on screen means something new.

UckyBon,

I cancelled all my streaming accounts because of this. I never shared the password other than with my SO. It was a wake up call to the whole subscriptions scam. It’s a shitty middleman.

Subscriptions add up real quick: movies, music, games, apps, cloud, news, etc. Let alone having some other hobbies.

I have friends who drop $200 per month on those things. Absolutely insane. That’s a month worth of avocado toast.

LustyArgonianMana,
@LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world avatar

My ex has hundreds of dollars of subscription stuff each month: Disney, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Streaming, Max/HBO, OnlyFans, Tinder, Field, Bumble etc etc. It’s so stupid

Nastybutler,

OnlyFans

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/a9ac382f-2688-4fd3-ade5-acce94d5350c.gif

LustyArgonianMana,
@LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world avatar

We were poly, I have my own OF, it’s no big deal except those subscriptions add up fast. Just like the dating apps were okay at the time too, but an annoying cost when added up.

tiefling,

Same, I immediately canceled my account. They spent the next year trying to get me to resub. Fuck Netflix, yarg

shadowSprite,

Same on both counts

unreliable,

People hate Netflix, their show are crap. But bring profitszfor already rich people, great success in life…

oxjox,
@oxjox@lemmy.ml avatar

LOL I was in arguments with a number of angry internet people who were vehemently screaming how this would be the death of Netflix. They seriously thought that all the people who were getting free passwords would simply not subscribe to Netflix. To which I responded, then they wouldn’t lose a single subscriber. And then I saw more than a few people actually say that subscribers who were sharing their passwords would stop subscribing to Netflix because they weren’t able to share their passwords. Just an example of how your personal feelings about something can skew your observance of a reality.

Now, why people are choosing to subscribe to Netflix at all is something I genuinely don’t understand. I’ll pay for a month of it every 12-18 months and get bored searching for something to watch within a couple days.

I’m interested to see how the younger TikTok generation transitions to commercial programming. I would think some portion of the demographic isn’t going to want to sit own for 30-90 minutes to watch wide-screen television. Just as we transition from over-the-air to cable to streaming, I wonder what will come next. “TikFlix”?

blargerer,

I used to subscribe inconsistently when there was something I wanted to watch. Then I started sharing with my family so I kept the subscription up at a higher price constantly because I didn't know when they were using it or not. I've since gone back to only subscribing at a lower price when I want to watch something. I honestly thought way more people would be in this situation.

oxjox,
@oxjox@lemmy.ml avatar

And has your family subscribed on their own?

KingBoo,

“TikFlix”?

We’re actually there. Go on YouTube and you’ll see entire movies condensed into tokable sized chunks. This is how Z watches movies now, and it will only get worse.

Songs are becoming shorter and shorter, to hopefully create a tiktok trend.

LustyArgonianMana,
@LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world avatar

Most modern movies are pointless fluff anyway. I don’t need to watch 20minutes of fighting and explosions, I really don’t. Or even more stereotypical, boring one liners, jokes, and banter. Not to mention the movies with the exact same emotional motivations - the superhero movies. Miss me with the war propaganda and reactionary bullshit. And that’s what most movies are about these days. Internet is killing Hollywood because Hollywood has always been fluff and not that good.

ThrowawayPermanente,

This sounds like satire but I don’t really want to know

penquin,

What’s next for the next quarter’s profits? I mean your shareholders are not just gonna stop there. It’s an infinite money pit, right?

anarchrist, (edited )

But the firm will stop reporting key subscriber numbers from next year.

They’re going to pretend user attrition isn’t happening as new subs burn out on content and the old “family” accounts recalculate the value of their subscriptions and start dropping or juggling netflix.

reddig33,

Be sure to read the article. Netflix has announced they won’t be disclosing subscriber numbers from here on out. Probably not a good sign.

FiniteLooper,

I’m still using a password shared with me, no issues at all.

andrewta,

My tip to you is

Shhhhhh

Enjoy it but do not talk about it.

GregorTacTac,
@GregorTacTac@lemm.ee avatar

Even if someone shared their password with me I wouldn’t use it because I like to be in control of my media. That’s why I run a Jellyfin server.

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