Netflix’s password-sharing breach appears to be working

While some users canceled their Netflix accounts after a password-sharing attack began, the move appears to be paying off for the company. According to data from research firm Antenna, Netflix saw a sharp increase in account registrations after the rule went into effect in the US and many other regions in late May.

Antenna says Netflix had the four biggest single days of US sign-ups in the four-and-a-half years it’s been tracking that data. On 26 and 27 May there were almost 100,000 entries each day. During each of the four days, the company saw an average of 73,000 new memberships, according to Antenna, which noted that the number was 1[ads1]02 percent more than the average for the previous 60 days.

While account cancellations also increased during that period, Antenna said signups far exceeded those numbers. This was the largest increase in new Netflix account sign-ups in the US since the COVID-19 lockdown 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 changes in account sharing 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 regarding 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 per month for viewers accessing 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 1:00 PM ET 9/6: Added Netflix’s response to a request for comment.