Netflix's global crackdown on account sharing, which hit U.S. shores around 10 months ago, appears to be bearing fruit.
According to Leichtman Research Group's Internet-Delivered TV Services 2024 report, which is based on a survey of 2,546 U.S. households, just 10% of domestic Netflix accounts are borrowed by someone living outside the account owner's household.
That number has been dropping steadily -- compared to 15% in 2022, 14% in 2020, and 16% in 2018 -- since the streaming company refocused its efforts on eliminating the ability for multiple households to freely share one Netflix account.
With Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery also confirming plans to limit account sharing, the improvement is broad-based, LRG found.
Overall, 10% of all DTC services are now borrowed from someone else, down from 12% in 2022. And 73% of all DTC services are fully paid for and are not shared with others outside the household. In LRG's comparable survey released in March of 2023, the firm pegged that metric at only 68%.
LRG's new study found that of the 23% of DTC services used in more than one household, 11% of them are paid for by someone who shared them with another household, and 10% are borrowed from another household.
However, the likelihood that an individual shares the service increases among younger consumers, with 17% of all DTC services for the 18-35 age group fully paid for by somebody else, compared to just 7% for those in the 35+ demographic.
“Password sharing continues to be prevalent throughout the streaming video industry, despite recent efforts to limit it," said Bruce Leichtman, LRG president and principal analyst. “Overall, 20% of households have at least one DTC service that is paid for by another household.”
