Netflix adds nearly 6 million paid subscribers amid password sharing crackdown
Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing appears to be paying off.
The streaming giant on Wednesday said it added nearly six million paid subscribers during the three months ending in June, bringing its total to more than 238 million globally.
The company said it has now launched paid sharing — its effort to get users to stop sharing accounts with others for free — in more than 100 countries, after beginning its broad rollout earlier this year. Netflix said revenue in those regions is now higher than before the service launched, and that “sign-ups are already exceeding cancellations.”
Netflix’s chief financial officer, Spencer Neumann, called the launch of paid sharing Netflix’s “primary revenue accelerator in the year” during the company’s second quarter earnings call.
“Most of our revenue growth this year is from growth in volume from new paid memberships and that’s largely driven by our paid sharing rollout,” he said.
The results come at a pivotal moment for Netflix as the streamer looks to boost revenue by restricting password sharing and introducing an ad-supported subscription option while also contending with a fresh challenge: strikes by both the Hollywood actors and writers unions that could impact its future slate of original shows and movies.
Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing appears to be paying off. The streaming giant on Wednesday said it added nearly six million paid subscribers during the three months ending in June, bringing its total to more than 238 million globally. The company said it has now launched paid sharing — its effort to get users to…