Netflix’s decision to block customers from sharing their passwords has turned out to be a business masterstroke.
Faced with an end to their binge-watching marathons, former freeloaders appear to be signing up to the streaming service in their droves.
Netflix nabbed a whopping 13.1 million global subscribers during the last three months of 2023, the biggest fourth-quarter addition in the company’s history.
Cementing its status as the world’s biggest streaming service, Netflix now has a total of 260 million customers.
In its 27th year, the company recently switched its focus to controlling pricing after an extended period of unrestricted spending on entertainment.
Suddenly, Netflix was telling customers they would no longer be able to share their passwords with friends and family outside of their homes — a practice it had previously turned a blind eye to.
The hammer came down last May as Brits began seeing warnings when they tuned in, which felt a bit like being caught shoplifting red-handed.
Despite people on Twitter threatening to cancel their subscriptions and talk of workarounds, it seems most of us were happy to part with our cash when push came to shove. It didn’t hurt that Netflix now had a cheaper plan that cost £5 a month, albeit with the same ad breaks the company had long railed against.
Meanwhile, it raised the prices of some of its other plans in an attempt to push more people towards its ad tier. Speaking of which, Netflix says 23 million customers are happily paying to watch content with adverts. The world truly has turned upside down.
Of course, the stellar numbers aren’t just down to Netflix cracking the whip. No one would care if it didn’t keep delivering the hits, with recent successes including Money Heist spinoff Berlin, and the finales to popular shows including Sex Education and The Crown.
For its part, Netflix says it still has room to grow. Despite all those subscribers, it reaches around only 10 per cent of TV viewers in most places. To boost those figures, it’s turning to more licensed programming, including guilty pleasures such as Suits and live shows like WWE wrestling, which offer easygoing entertainment and come with captive fanbases, respectively.
In case you haven’t noticed, Netflix also has games. While it’s far from rivalling Apple’s cavernous App Store, the streamer says engagement with its small gaming library tripled last year. A big part of that surge was due to the recent debut of the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy, a bundle of classics that quickly became the biggest game on the service.
