Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown is coming soon

If seeing whether That 90’s Show is any good hinges upon you having your ex’s password, this is no time to chill – it’s time to Netflix. Because the password-sharing clock is quickly running out.

According to new Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters, the era of laissez-faire password sharing may be over as soon as March – but definitely before the end of June. And the impact is set to be yuuuuge. The company estimates roughly 100 million households will be affected by the change.

👥📺 How it’ll work: While nothing has been officially announced yet, it appears – based on a letter to shareholders included in its Q4 earnings report released last week – the crackdown will be modeled after the streamer’s 2022 pilot program in Latin America.

During the pilot program, Netflix separated its users into two categories:

• Account Owners, who were able to pay for a limited number of ‘sub-accounts’ outside of their primary residence (as defined by IP address and user activity). By the end of the pilot they could also use a new “Manage Access & Devices” feature to see and remove any device using their account.
• Moochers, who could either have the account owner pay for their access, or transfer their existing profile onto a new account without losing their personalized recommendations and viewing history. Each added moocher is rumored to cost between $3 and $4.50 per month, though if they branch out on their own the normal account pricing applies.

📈 Zoom out: The password crackdown comes on the heels of a big subscriber growth quarter for Netflix; the company exceeded its own subscriber projections for Q4 2022 by more than 70% (adding over 7.6 million net new subscriptions vs. 4.57 million expected).