Netflix shared its decision to end password sharing in 2023. It is also planning to roll out an advertising support tier. The two new co-CEOs of Netflix Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos gave out more details in an interview with Bloomberg about what this means.
Company speaks
Peters assures that consumer experience would not be affected even if this step is taken as it would be a “graduated approach”. However, he added, “The vast majority of people who are not paying for Netflix will have to pay for Netflix. It gets to a pretty firm kind of position.”
This would not be “a universally popular kind of event,” according to Peters and Netflix is likely to face “unhappy customers.” Their focus is to increase the subscriber base by 20 million and they are targeting countries like India. Password sharing is the stumbling block in the way of getting more subscribers. Netflix is also facing steep competition from other OTT platforms.
In the interview, the co-CEOs were asked how many of the 100 million people who share passwords would end up paying. Replying to the same Peters said that they would like to win the hearts of all paying customers by delivering quality content such as ‘Glass Onion’ every week.
Ad-based plan
Advertising is another way Netflix is looking to make more money. The company has rolled out an ad-based plan in Brazil, Australia, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and the USA. It is priced at $ 6.99.
When asked if Netflix is “underdelivering on advertising-supported viewers,” they disagreed. Peters said they “knocked this thing (the ad-supported plan) outta the park,” and would be “busy building this out for years to come.”
The ‘basic with ads’ plan is meant for “price-sensitive customers” and is available as complementary to the overall plan set. There is no information on when Netflix would roll out the ad-supported plan in India.
Password sharing ends
Netflix is already testing ways to stop password sharing in Latin American countries like El Salvador, Argentina, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, and Honduras. Customers need to pay around $ 3 extra if they use their Netflix account outside of their primary residence for more than two weeks. There is no news when this would be effective in other countries but it is likely to happen in 2023 itself.
