Research: Netflix password sharing crackdown delivering benefits in US

Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing does not seem to have had a deleterious impact on its US subscriber numbers, if data from research group Antenna is to be believed.

According to Antenna, since alerting subs in the US to its plan to curb sharing on May 23, Netflix has had the four single largest days of U.S. user acquisition in the four and a half years that Antenna has been measuring the streaming service. Based on the most current data available, Netflix saw nearly 100,000 daily Sign-ups on both May 26 and May 27.T

The research outfit said that daily sign-iups reached 73,000 during this period, representing an increase of 102% on its prior 60-day average.

While cancellations also increased, these eere more than offset by sign-ups, according to the research outfit, which said that the ration of sign-ups to cancellations after May 23 was up 25.6% compared with the prior 60-day period.

Antenna used its new Acquisition Drivers product to assess the impact of Netflix’s crackdown.

Netflix sent letters to subscribers informing them that accounts were for use by a single household and informing them of ways in which sharers could sign up for their own accounts.

In the first quarter, Netflix took a decision to delay extension of the crackdown beyond the initial tranche of countries in which it was implemented, a move that dampened revenue expectations for the second quarter.

The streamer’s Q1 letter to investors indicated it was “pleased with the most recent launches of paid sharing” – Netflix’s initiative to convert illicit password sharers to legitimate subscribers – but said that “the latest learnings” from the programme would take time to translate into changes that would “lead to even better results”.

The company said that gth edelay would mean “some of the expected membership growth and revenue benefit will fall in Q3 rather than Q2”.