For now, the company’s Password- Sharing Crackdown is working
Netflix Can’t Get It Wrong: Pricing and Password Enforcement after the Netflix Acts Strikes Ends in May 2023
Netflix last raised its prices in January 2022 and stopped offering its $9.99 Basic ad-free plan to new and relapsed users in July, forcing them to fork out more to avoid ads. The Basic and Premium plans in the UK and France will cost more, with the ad supported and Standard plans staying the same. In the UK, the Basic and Premium plans will cost £7.99 and £17.99, respectively, while customers in France will see the Basic plan move up to 10.99€ and the Premium plan cost 19.99€.
Speaking of benefits: the Hollywood strikes. Even though the Writers Guild of America struck a deal with studios and script scribes are getting back to work, actors remain on strike, leaving many productions stalled. There has been a surge in popularity for Love Is Blind over the past few months, which can lull you into a false sense of security. The actors’ strike could leave the streamer with fewer offerings to lure subscribers or retain subscribers. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Netflix might raise prices after the actors strike ends. It’s possible that the increases announced Wednesday are the price hikes the Journal predicted, but if the cost of Netflix goes up again, the company will have to offer customers more to demonstrate it provides the same value.
For months, it looked like the changing of plans, pricing and password enforcement were the moves of a company in need of additional competition and a decline in public perception. The analysts were reducing their stock price forecasts because of the talk that users were not flocking to the ad-supported tier. In a letter to investors, the company noted that membership in its ad supported plans is up 70% quarter over quarter. The company stated that they have brought paid sharing to every region where it is available.
Consider how the company feels about password sharing. The long-planned killjoy campaign rolled out in the US and UK in May 2023. It came on the heels of a topsy-turvy time for streaming, when Netflix was facing increased competition from new streamers like Disney+ and HBO Max (now known as Max) and losing subscribers for the first time in a decade. The move to quash password-sharing—which basically shut out users who didn’t appear to live in the same household as the account holder—also landed shortly after the streamer pushed its much-hyped $7-per-month ad-supported tier.
