We all knew it was coming. The next phase of Netflix’s months-long password-sharing crackdown — which itself follows the company’s first quarterly subscriber loss in a decade — is soon upon us. The company announced on Tuesday during its quarterly earnings call that it will charge customers an additional monthly fee starting in early 2023 for people who share their login credentials.
This step is an extension of a pilot program currently underway in Latin America that charges additional fees for “extra user” subaccounts, users outside your immediate household who use your login to access the service. Basically, every entry on the “Who’s Watching?” screen is going to cost you extra money if they don’t live with you too.
The news comes as Netflix tries to return to growth and settle investors after confirming earlier this year that it was losing subscribers. With help from Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and Season Four of Stranger Things, the company was able to add more than 2.4 million subscribers in the third quarter.
Netflix hasn’t announced pricing for the punitive charges yet, but if they follow the pilot’s “one quarter of the base rate” schedule, it should be around US$3-4. For folks looking to avoid those fees, Netflix unveiled an account migration tool Monday that will transfer a user’s sub-account information (watching history, recommendations, and the like) to their new, independent subscription.
In addition, the company recently announced a cheaper ad-supported tier that will cost $7 per month when it launches on November 3. The new tier will be available by November 10 in a dozen countries, including the UK, Canada and Mexico.
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