Netflix subscribers around the world will know all about the password-sharing crackdown designed to stop people from sharing account fees with friends and family members who do not live with them The move may have been controversial, but Netflix seems rather pleased with the way things are going so far

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos spoke about the move at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in New York (via Variety) According to Sarandos, Netflix is "completely satisfied with the pace at which it is going"

The system currently in place means that people can only share accounts if they live in the same location However, Netflix offers a "paid sharing" option, which allows people to separate their accounts by location However, to do so, you have to pay an additional $8 per month

Sarandos notes that it was not possible to introduce measures to reduce password sharing all at once Instead, it had to be done on a country-by-country basis to adapt the new account requirements to individual markets It may simply be that Netflix is happy with the way it rolled out the restrictions and forced account-sharers to pay for separate accounts

Then again, the Netflix CEO's comments could also be interpreted as general satisfaction with the move and subscriber reaction Netflix saw fairly strong subscriber growth after rolling out a more extensive crackdown on password sharing, gaining 6 million new subscribers in Q2 2023; it gained another 88 million subscribers in Q3 2023 and expects a similar level in Q4 The second and third quarters saw a significant increase in new subscribers In Q2 and Q3, revenues increased from regions where the new account rules were in effect

Disney Plus has also announced plans to crack down on account sharing in 2024, which would not have happened had Netflix not been successful with its own password sharing prevention measures

We should expect this trend to continue, and no doubt other streaming services will follow suit In particular, Netflix just raised their subscription fees, so don't expect their rates to go down

As Variety reports, Sarandos blasted rival streaming services, saying that while Netflix is adding content and "adjusting its prices a little bit," he said, "competitors seem to be cutting content and raising prices" [For example, Disney Plus just announced its 2024 lineup yesterday, and some were upset that season 2 of Andor was not on it