I feel like other streaming platforms will follow the same process as they’ve proven it’s worked.

  • anon@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    94
    ·
    1 year ago

    If Netflix’s reporting on the matter is to be believed, then it’s an ironic outcome considering the wave of strongly-opinionated comments predicting the death of Netflix following the crackdown on password sharing. I guess convenience and habits really trump principles and posturing.

      • Dankry@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        28
        ·
        1 year ago

        I would’ve but I had already cancelled over a year ago because Netflix doesn’t have anything worth watching.

        • AA5B@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          1 year ago

          Yeah, I have been wondering just how bad their content has gotten, or of I somehow got pigeonholed by their filtering algorithms. Somehow almost everything was rated two stars out of five and just plain bad, or in some random language that I don’t speak.

          I’m really pissed off when the same movie keeps appearing in every section with different thumbnail. Yes I’ve been fooled by both the category and the different appearance but I don’t recall ever being tricked into watching something, only annoyed and frustrated

        • UnhappyCamper@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          What I’m finding and what’s really annoying, is that every streaming service out there has like 1 or 2 shows and a couple of movies I want to see. Someone will bring up a show, but oh sorry, it’s on Crave. Or nope, that one’s on Disney Plus. That other show? It’s on Prime.

          I recently canceled Netflix and moved to Crave, and I am certainly no happier. Thank God I barely care to watch TV as it is.

      • aqua@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        25
        ·
        1 year ago

        I never gave them money to begin with, we are not the same.

        Gustavo Fring meme

      • jasonwaterfalls@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        I told my family I was going to cancel when they cracked down on our households sharing and they haven’t yet. My parents are still enjoying it at their house, and me at mine.

    • ForgetReddit@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      29
      ·
      1 year ago

      I hated the crackdown but resisting on “principles” is bizarre to me. I left Reddit and Twitter due to principles. Netflix wanting to get paid for their service and content is reasonable. Wanting a business to serve you up free entertainment with no catch?

      Also before anyone tries to claim hypocrisy - The difference between that and Twitter/Reddit is myself and the community create the content and are forcefed ads.

      • Sarsaparilla@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        38
        ·
        1 year ago

        Netflix wanting to get paid for their service and content is reasonable.

        Sure, it’s reasonable, and why I started subscribing in the first place. But if I pay for four screens, I expect to be able to use all of those four screens, no matter what address they are being viewed from.

      • DrGunjah@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        29
        ·
        1 year ago

        You skipped the part where Netflix actually encouraged account sharing for a long time. Now they frame the account sharers as thieves. Also the other part where quality of content goes down while subscription prices go up while still not providing plans with hq streams for single people. Which all was tolerable for a few bucks a month. Without sharing netflix is simply not worth the money

        • ForgetReddit@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          1 year ago

          Can you point to where they’re calling account sharers “thieves”? I’ve just seen them say they’re now limiting screens. And agreed the content sucks which is why I unsubscribed awhile ago. No one is forcing you to use it, but at the same time no one deserves it for free.

          • DrGunjah@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            edit-2
            1 year ago

            They’re not saying it directly of course, but they clearly frame the account sharers as “bad guys” now. I mean you’re correct that no one is entitled to watch netflix for free but that “poor netflix just wants to get paid” narrative is some serious BS. I also kinda doubt netflix tells us the 100% truth about subscription growth/recession. The only reason I did not switch my account on/off over the years was because it was shared and it would have required coordination with the other party.

      • Hogger85b@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        1 year ago

        Except netlfix sold people a license to view 3 streams then told people they couldn’t decide who used those streams.

      • anon@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        1 year ago

        In the timeless wisdom words of George Carlin,

        Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

  • Tygr@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    77
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Step 1: Crack down on password sharing.

    Step 2: Open subscriptions to foreign countries with cut-rate pricing.

    Step 3: Announce subscriber growth.

    We’re too smart for you Netflix. Your revenues are actually down because of all the premium-paid subscribers leaving your platform.

  • Chiron17@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    48
    ·
    1 year ago

    I’m not surprised. The number of people sharing accounts who now need their own was always likely to be greater than the number who were going to cancel. They only had to convert a fraction of the non-subdividing viewers for it to work out in their favour. I think they’ll find they have less viewers now, though.

    The approach of tacitly allowing account sharing to build viewership then cracking down on it to boost revenue is smart enough as a business strategy. It signals what most of these companies will do when it comes time to really monetise.

    I worry for the future of the internet when YouTube and Google really kick off. It’s going to be a subscription hellscape (it is already, but it’s going to be so much worse).

    • Asafum@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      I don’t have a link for it, but I read that YouTube is working on a 3 strikes policy for anyone using AdBlock programs… So after the 3rd warning you’re not able to watch anything on YouTube at all…

    • pewter@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      The approach of tacitly allowing account sharing to build viewership then cracking down on it to boost revenue is smart enough as a business strategy. It signals what most of these companies will do when it comes time to really monetise.

      It’s less extreme than Hulu’s method of going from an all free service to a subscription service. When you think about it from Hulu’s perspective there’s no way they would make less money and unlike social media sites like Twitter or Facebook the users’ labor isn’t the content. The movies and tv shows are.

  • ggq@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    41
    ·
    1 year ago

    I had a family account, but I stopped using it since going abroad to uni once they cracked down. The amount of content is just at the point where I don’t see any value to subscribing.
    Generally though, exactly what killed cable TV is killing my use of Netflix and other services. All the interesting stuff is now so spread out on so many different services, it’s just no longer worth it.
    Dealing with N different subscriptions and different websites, is too much BS to deal with AND pay for, so I’m just going to run my own server.

    • effingjoe@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      18
      ·
      1 year ago

      It is trivial to sign up for a service when you want to watch something, and then cancel it when you don’t, until there’s something else you want to watch on the service. That is the benefit over cable.

      Most people still treat it like a cable subscription: always on, even if they’re not watching it.

      • svahnen@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        1 year ago

        That’s a good thought and would probably work if I lived alone and only watched one thing at a time.

        But I would say it depends on your use case and the size of your household. We are 4 ppl in my family that watch different content on the same TV at different times of the day. We have Netflix (the wife’s show is here), Disney (kids), HBO (me), Viaplay (family movies in my native language when we all watch together). I have been sharing thease accounts with my brothers family but we are about to move to Plex, I would rather buy DVD or digital releases and host it myself then use all thease subscriptions.

        If they would price it better, could work together and all be used in the same interface on my tv then maybe I would be willing to go back.

        • effingjoe@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          1 year ago

          I have spent thousands of dollars over the years on my Plex setup. I’d caution against the assumption that switching to Plex and hosting your media is going to be cheaper in the short run, or maybe even the long run, than paying for streaming services. Depending on your use case you may even need to pay for Plexpass. (Hardware encoding, iirc, is locked behind their Plexpass subscription.) And factor in the inevitable troubleshooting you’ll have to do when something doesn’t work for your brother’s family.

          Do the math for yourself, is all I’m saying. It’s not automatically the better solution.

          • svahnen@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            1 year ago

            Those are all good points and I’m happy you replied, as it will probably help other who read this 😊

            However I already have a Plex server for my older media (VHS 😅 tapes) that I have converted to digital, that’s hosted on my NAS, and lifetime Plex pass. I have been meaning to look into open source replacements but many older smart tvs only have Plex 🤷

            • svahnen@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              I should probably have mentioned as well that the inconvenience of having multiple apps are a bigger hurdle for my family then the cost, as that pushes us towards things like Plex where the kids could find everything in one app

  • HiDefMusic@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    1 year ago

    I didn’t want to subscribe to Netflix but I subscribed after using someone else’s account for years just because my wife was insistent about it.

    We already have access to someone’s Plex with Ombi and can request whatever TV shows or movies we want. But she’s too impatient to even wait for max. 24 hours for a movie or a season of a TV show to be downloaded. And sometimes requests fail, since it’s reliant upon inherently unreliable means of downloading like torrents.

    Netflix is unfortunately still more convenient than piracy for the average user. But if it was up to me only, I wouldn’t have chosen to subscribe.

    • Wooly@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      1 year ago

      I host a Plex server that my friends use, they just text me what they want and I’ll get it. Is there an official request feature? Or are you just talking about asking the host like I do?

    • Ataraxia@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      Meh. We did not share our account but still canceled a few years ago. Seriously do not miss it.

    • tamas@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      How does a Netflix subscription fix this? So many interesting shows and movies are missing or barely available for a month. The catalog of Netflix used to be good when they were the only streaming service but really, really tanked when every content producer started their own (and removed their stuff from Netflix).

  • Buffalox@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    8
    ·
    1 year ago

    IMO this is not surprising, I actually considered buying stock in Netflix, because they were so low.

    I’m guessing the ones to complain the most, were the ones who were at the free end of those shared passwords.

    I don’t use Netflix myself, but adding advertising for slightly cheaper subscriptions, and ending password sharing, seemed like an almost guaranteed win for Netflix to me. At least in the short term.

    People here may disagree and find it outrageous, but most people probably don’t care enough to make a big deal out of it, and will simply choose the option that suit their needs best.

    • Hogger85b@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Yep, people really think they are smarter than netflix?? They trialled it, got their positive feedback data and rolled it out

  • cmrn@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    1 year ago

    The account I share with family still works, but the second it doesn’t… it’s the pirate life for me

  • Briongloid@aussie.zone
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    1 year ago

    And a growth in my friends using my server, let the public support unethical business practices, we’ll get fat off their content.

    Too bad Netflix content isn’t good anymore, it’s concerning what the general public enjoy.

  • zkfcfbzr@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    I haven’t followed the Netflix password news all that closely because I barely ever use Netflix - but when I do use it it’s through password sharing an account my sister pays for. That worked as recently as just a week ago.

    Should I expect that to stop working soon?

    • YourMomSaysHi@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      If someone is actively watching something and a second person logs in to the same account and starts watching something, Netflix recognizes it within a minute and displays a message to the second person that logged in stating that someone is already logged in to the account.

      As long as you’re not watching at the same time as each other, you should be good to go.

      • zkfcfbzr@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        Thanks. I doubt that’ll ever be an issue for us so it looks like it’ll be business as usual.

  • misk@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    As a person in charge of shared Netflix subscription for my friends I noped out the moment they started password sharing crackdown. Yeah, they added “small” charge to add more users to subscription but the writing was on the wall and I realized I was the frog being boiled.

    2 of my friends went for basic plan separately. The cost of 2 basic subscriptions is about the same as 4k / 4 screens one we were using before. So yeah, subscriber count up, now Netflix needs to do a rug pull on basic plan (which they already do in US and UK).

    I don’t even see a need to pirate stuff from Netflix these days, barely anything worth watching. I still pay for HBO, Disney+, Apple TV+ (part of family Apple One) and Prime - which in the country I live in cost together about they same as Netflix did lol.

    • pjhenry1216@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      How much is Netflix and how much is HBO? Where I am HBO is nearly as much as Netflix. I’m curious to see what differences there are elsewhere. For me, Prime is only cost effective comparatively because I qualify as a student currently.

    • misk@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Can’t reply to kbin accounts due to language bug so I’ll reply to myself:

      • Netflix 4k is 60 PLN / mo
      • HBO is 30 (but you could lock in 20 if you subscribed early on, which I did)
      • Dinsey+ is 29 / mo (24 / mo if yearly, which I did)
      • Prime is 49 / year (4 / mo), Amazon tries to fight local competitor on free delivery and for some reason they include streaming with that
      • Apple TV+ I’m getting as part of Apple One family sub (45 / mo but that’s Apple Music, TV+, Arcade and iCloud for my whole household)