Netflix has been combatting password-sharing for over a year now, and after earning millions of news subscribers, it looks like their plan was worth the wait.
In the last three months, Netflix has added 5.9 million new subscribers after clamping down on over 100 million households that were sharing their passwords. The streaming service now has a total of 238.4 million subscribers worldwide.
News of password-sharing crackdowns began in July 2022 with information of charging extra fees for password-sharing in October of the same year. The crackdown picked up steam briefly in February 2023 before backpeddling amid backlash. It wasn’t until May 2023 when Netflix continued its efforts and brought it to Asia, including Singapore.
The new subscribers and boost in revenue is excellent news for Netflix who are still broadening its income stream. Earlier this year, Netflix introduced ad-supported basic tiers – all while hiding the original basic plan from keen subscribers. A basic with ad plan is US$6.99/month while a basic plan goes for US$15.49/month.
Unfortunately, basic plan without ads is about to be a thing of the past now.
Netflix has removed its basic plan in the US and the UK for new and rejoining members. Users who are already on the plan can continue to remain on it until they change plans of cancel their account.
Currently, the basic plan is still available in Singapore, though it is unclear for how long more.