Netflix will start charging 'extra user' fees early next year
19 October 2022, 14:28
There will be no more password sharing on Netflix from next year as the streaming giant is cracking down on multiple users.
Netflix has now revealed it will start cracking down on password sharing next year.
The streaming giant announced during its quarterly earnings call on Tuesday that it will begin charging subscribers an added monthly fee if they share their login details with friends or family.
Bosses said it will let subscribers create sub-accounts to "monetise account sharing", with Netflix announcing: "We've landed on a thoughtful approach to monetise account sharing and we'll begin rolling this out more broadly starting in early 2023".
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"After listening to consumer feedback, we are going to offer the ability for borrowers to transfer their Netflix profile into their own account, and for sharers to manage their devices more easily and to create sub-accounts ('extra member') if they want to pay for family or friends.”
They continued: "In countries with our lower-priced ad-supported plan, we expect the profile transfer option for borrowers to be especially popular."
As previously reported, Netflix will scan users’ devices and their account activity in an attempt to find out when their logins are being used in more than one place.
Using ‘information such as IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity’, they will then require them to pay $2.99 for each new location.
An exception is made for ‘travelling’, but users can only visit a given place once a year, Netflix says in its support documents.
This comes after Netflix announced it would launch a brand new and cheaper subscription which will include adverts.
That means those who want to pay less for their subscription can get the same great shows, just broken up by ads.
A tweet sent this week confirmed that, from November, subscribers can select a new plan that it calls "Basic with Ads" for just £4.99 per month.
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The tweet read: "Enjoy your Netflix experience exactly as it is today? Great! Nothing about the way you watch Netflix is going to change.
"From November, Netflix will also be available from £4.99 in the UK. Basic with Ads, Netflix’s new lower-priced ad-supported plan. A plan for every fan!"
New subscribers will watch about four to five minutes of ads per hour and some other features will also be missing.
You won’t be able to download content to watch offline and some TV shows and movies will be missing altogether.
Canada and Mexico will be receiving the new tier first on 1 November, followed by the UK, US, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Japan and Korea on 3 November, followed by Spain on 10 November.
