Netflix is worried it’s not getting enough money of us, and that it won’t be able to invest as much in new programmes for its members.
Clearly it’s tough times at Netflix, with the streaming giant looking for any spare billion it can find down the back of the sofa. And, as had been previously hinted, it’s now turning its attention to people who share their logins for the service. Not amongst family members, but those who share logins with friends who don’t live in the same place.
The firm has begun a trial in Costa Rica, Chile and Peru, whereby it’s going to be adding an extra charge for those who share their login information, to the tune of any extra couple of quid. It’s put up a blog post on its site under the tag ‘innovation’, noting that accounts being shared between households are “impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members”.
Just as an aside, Netflix enjoyed revenues of $25 billion in 2020.
To address this impacting of its abilities, users in three countries are being offered a premium to add an extra member outside their household to their subscriptions. That, or they can transfer a profile to a new account.
The broader problem is that with over 200 million monthly subscribers on its books, Netflix has hit saturation point, and isn’t growing as quickly anymore. The laws of corporationland are that you have to keep growing because otherwise that is bad. This is clearly one of Netflix’s attempts to make a few extra bob.
“We’ll be working to understand the utility of these two features for members in these three countries before making changes anywhere else in the world”, Netflix notes. You can find its post on the matter here.
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