Netflix’s paid sharing — and ad subscription option — might have paid off
On Jan. 23, Netflix announced that it had gained over 13 million global subscribers during the fourth quarter, per The Associated Press.
According to the BBC, this is the most subscribers Netflix had gained in a single quarter since 2020. It might be thanks to its new regulations earlier that year that boosted its sales, such as stopping the practice of password sharing, per Business Insider.
How did the password crackdown help Netflix?
According to Business Insider, Netflix will continue upholding its password rules, saying, “Our engagement is a bit impacted by our paid sharing. Think about it like fewer households using the same account, so as those folks spin off and get their own accounts, and we win them over with our programming, that will normalize and continue to grow. We’re really pleased with our engagement.”
But ads were what really won the public
According to the BBC, 40% of the 13 million subscribers were actually people that signed up for Netflix’s new ad subscription service during the fourth quarter from 12 different countries.
It was an effort by Netflix to appease consumers who were originally gaining access via password sharing to sign up for a lower price instead, per The Associated Press, and it seems to be working. The BBC reported that in January 2024, Netflix had 23 million accounts compared to November 2023, when it had only 15 million accounts.
The future of Netflix
But another announcement at the end of the fourth quarter may help Netflix gain even more subscribers to its platform, currently beating rivals Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros. Discovery, per The Associated Press.
According to BBC, the same day Netflix announced its fourth-quarter results, it also announced a deal with the popular show WWE Raw to bring it to the platform starting in 2025, a deal that is worth $5 billion, per AP.
According to AP, analysts believe Netflix will put more efforts into its video game features, now available on the Netflix mobile app, while Netflix has said that it has noticed an uptick in subscribers using its video games instead of watching shows.
