Here’s One Way Netflix Can Fix the Account-Sharing Outcry
Comment: Netflix is under criticism for charging more for password sharing. To help mend ties with customers, it ought to test a new subscription plan.
It will be simpler for everyone if you share your Netflix account, even though your mother lives in Ohio and you in New York. The family with three college-aged children and the couple who live apart as a result of one of them being assigned to a military base abroad share this trait. I have read your tales. I can relate to you because I’ve been in your position.
Many are not pleased with the change as a result of Netflix’s decision to start charging customers extra costs for sharing accounts. The business has come under fire over the five-year-old tweet, “Love is sharing a password.”
To highlight the about-face, even the card game Uno joined the Twitter roast. Several loud Netflix users are screaming on social media and threatening to cancel their subscriptions. The Netflix comment sections are particularly hurt by this.
Viewers who are not part of the main household are referred to by Netflix as extra members or subaccounts. Adding an additional member costs $8 per person in Canada, where premium plans cost $21 and ordinary plans cost $16.50. I agree if you think $30 a month for a single streaming provider to stream on two or four screens is excessive.
We still don’t know how much extra members will pay each month in the US. When Netflix does decide to tell us, I believe it should also reveal a few shrewd deals.
Netflix needs a cheaper plan for students
Parents and their college-age children are among those who are upset about the new policy. Netflix ought to provide a basic student subscription if it insists on charging for password sharing.
College students enjoy streaming, and they frequently use their parents’ accounts for this purpose. Even though their school is five states away, they should be treated like family members rather than as freeloaders. I imagine nobody tells our 17- or 18-year-olds when we drop them off at college, “Time for me to kick you off Netflix, you mooch.”
Instead of excluding children who attend school far from home, Netflix ought to provide a student plan that is less expensive than its standard ad-supported subscription. It is done by Hulu, Paramount Plus, and Spotify, demonstrating the existence of a model.
Sheer ID is used by all three platforms to confirm a student’s eligibility in college and university. With its ad-based plan, Hulu costs qualifying students $2 per month. The first month of Spotify Premium Student’s subscription is free, then it costs $5 per month. It also comes with free access to Showtime and Hulu with advertising. Even if they graduate earlier, Paramount Plus offers college students a 25% discount on its four-year Essential package.
If Netflix adopted this strategy, it could be able to aid a college student in need by finding the sweet spot between $2 and $5 per month. In January, the business launched its $7 ad-based tier, joining the likes of Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, and others that had already captured that territory. Netflix should be able to add a new subscription package geared towards students. Why not, if the streamer wants to maintain its subscriber base?
Members of the military should get a discount too
Service personnel live away from home for months or years, similar to students. A common scenario involves a loved one serving overseas and having a single Netflix account shared with relatives back in their native nation or state. Why not give active-duty personnel a military discount instead of geo-blocking them or adding account-sharing fees? Customers may access it through streaming services like Disney Plus, Apple TV, and Discovery Plus.
Why is Netflix charging fees for subaccounts?
Everyone who wants to watch Netflix must pay, especially if they do not share a residence. From a business standpoint, the organization aims to seize chances to profit from shared accounts. It was discussed during the company’s first-quarter earnings call in 2022 and was intended to finance content creation and overall operations. According to the streamer’s letter to shareholders, “another emphasis is how to optimally monetize sharing — the 100M+ households using another household’s account.” More than 30 million people who think sharing is caring reside in the US and Canada, according to Netflix.
Now, the additional expenses apply to nations including Canada, Spain, New Zealand, and Portugal. In some areas, the additional fees also entail additional requirements, such as confirming that your device is connected to your primary location or inviting more people to use your account.
Although I adore Netflix, none of the other major streaming services are doing this, which is quite inconvenient, as Fox 9 TV presenter Jason Matheson points out.
Netflix could lose out to the competition
Every price increase, extra charge, and hassle can make one platform less necessary in the oversaturated streaming service market. Netflix is aware that despite being a pioneer in this industry, there are competitors who wish to overtake it. It once narrowly defeated Blockbuster, demonstrating how a business plan may determine whether a company survives or not.
Don’t forget that the availability of material also plays a significant influence; if there is nothing to watch that justifies the monthly fee you are paying, it may be time to drop something. To conserve money or if we run out of content to stream, we switch between our streaming providers. If the additional cost is too great, particularly in the US, Netflix should prepare for long periods of user attrition. This is not to argue that services like Disney Plus and HBO Max are exempt from termination, since they have also dealt with angry customers over price rises and show cancellations.
The price of password-sharing costs, however, might be excessive. It will take a lot of work to convince people all across the world to use this new system, and only time will tell if Netflix will find it worthwhile.
