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After feeling like it was just a bluff ever since it was announced, Netflix will begin its crackdown on password sharing beginning during the second quarter of this year.
According to the streaming giant, users will be able to “give users the option to add 2 more people outside of their homes for an additional cost.” At this time, Netflix has not announced what that pricing structure will look like in the United States.
“We’ll look at that in a market-by-market basis, but obviously we tested different pricing in these last rollouts than we tested in Latin America and that gives you a sense about how we’re thinking about, you know what is optimal pricing, especially in more affluent countries,” co-CEO Greg Peters said on the earnings video.
The move from Netflix comes as the company looks to increase its revenue, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
During Q1 of 2023, Netflix added 1.75 million subscribers, which comes after they added 7.66 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2022 after introducing its lower-costing ad-supported package. At this time, Netflix claims to currently have 232.5 million subscribers.
Netflix’s Q1 earings update also came with the announcement that they would officially be shuttering its DVD delivery service, with its last DVD being sent out on September 23.
On September 29th, 2023, we will send out the last red envelope. It has been a true pleasure and honor to deliver movie nights to our wonderful members for 25 years. Thank you for being part of this incredible journey, including this final season of red envelopes. pic.twitter.com/9lAntaL2ww
— DVD Netflix (@dvdnetflix) April 18, 2023
Netflix, which is now as synonymous with streaming content as Google is with search engines, began as a DVD subscription service when it was first founded back in 1997.
Famously, fellow DVD purveyor Blockbuster had the opportunity to buy Netflix for just $50 million back in the year 2000 but passed.