Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing appears to be working

Although some users canceled their Netflix accounts after a crackdown on password sharing began, the move appears to be paying off for the company. According to data from analytics firm Antenna, Netflix saw a sharp increase in registered accounts after the rule went into effect in the US and many other regions at the end of May.

The antenna says Netflix had the four biggest days of sign-ups in the US in the four and a half years it’s been tracking this data. On May 26 and 27, there were almost 100,000 registrations each day. Over each of the four days, the company recorded an average of 73,000 new memberships, according to Antenna, which noted that this figure was 102 percent more than the previous 60-day average.

While account terminations also increased during that period, Antenna said signups far outnumbered those numbers. This was the largest increase in new Netflix account signups in the US since the COVID-19 lockdowns began in March and April 2020, Antenna noted.

It is worth bearing in mind that this is not official data from Netflix. We’ll have a clearer idea of ​​how the account sharing changes start to affect Netflix’s bottom line when the company reports its next quarterly earnings, likely in mid-July. However, as Yahoo Finance notes that Netflix’s stock price rose after Antenna released the data. Netflix declined to comment to Engadget on Antenna’s analysis.

Netflix began cracking down on account sharing on a trial basis in Latin America before implementing the new rules in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain in February. In the US, subscribers now have to pay an extra $8 a month for viewers who access the account outside of the main household, although you can still watch when you’re away from home. Users have the option to transfer an existing profile to a new account to keep all their preferences and data intact.

Update 1pm ET 6/9: Added Netflix’s response to a request for comment.