Netflix gains nearly 6 million subscribers thanks to new policy

Following its new shared accounts policy, the platform earned 3.3% more in the second quarter and increased its subscribers by almost 6 million.

Netflix reached 238.4 million subscribers in the second quarter of 2023, up 8% from the same period last year, thanks to policies to control account sharing by its users. It added 5.89 million customers in that period, after cracking down on password sharers.

The company has also eliminated its lowest-priced free plan, pushing consumers towards a cheaper service with advertising or a more expensive plan if they want to avoid ads. In May, it began charging users to continue sharing their passwords, a key element of its plan to accelerate growth after a sluggish 2022.

“We expect revenue growth to accelerate in the second half of 2023 as we grow monetisation from our shared payment launch and expand our initiative in nearly every country, in addition to continued and steady growth in our plan with advertising,” the company said.

It is not yet known to what extent the US actors’ and screenwriters’ strike may affect the platform for the remainder of the year, which, for the moment, is relying on its catalogue and the upcoming releases on its schedule. However, it does not seem that the massive strike has had any consequences on the platform’s activity.