Netflix gains six million subscribers after password sharing crackdown

Netflix earlier this year began cracking down on password sharing in the United States and other countries, and the effort has been successful, the company said today. Netflix gained 5.9 million new global subscribers in the second quarter of 2023, including more than a million in the US and Canada, according to its most recent earnings report. [PDF].

Based on these results, Netflix will now implement paid sharing in “almost all” of the remaining countries where the new policies have not yet been enacted. Netflix eliminated multi-household password sharing in the United States in May, a move that immediately led to a surge in subscriptions.

According to Netflix, revenue increased in all regions where shared payment was introduced and subscriptions have outpaced cancellations. The company experienced revenue growth of 2.7 percent year-over-year. Going forward, Netflix expects revenue growth to accelerate further as it begins to see the full benefits of paid sharing and additional adoption of its ad-supported plan.

For years, Netflix allowed subscribers to share their accounts with people outside of their direct household, but that’s no longer allowed. Everyone accessing a Netflix account must live in the same location, and Netflix restricts access based on IP and other location data. Netflix provided tools to allow those sharing accounts to sign up for their own accounts.

Netflix claimed that more than 100 million households shared accounts, affecting its ability to “invest and improve Netflix” for paying members.