Jan 10, 2020 - Technology

Sharing streaming passwords is more than a joke for Wall Street

Ina Fried

Photo: Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Netflix may have gone viral with a humorous tweet about password sharing this week, but Wall Street sees the practice as a drag on the company and its rivals to the tune of billions of dollars in revenue each year.

Why it matters: With competition growing and the cost of content continuing to increase, some streaming companies are likely to consider cracking down on the widespread practice.

Driving the news:

As my colleague Felix Salmon noted, Netflix India tweeted a picture of a scam promising free Netflix and suggested followers just share passwords like everyone else.
A new Parks Associates study estimates that password sharing cost streaming companies $9 billion last year, per Hollywood Reporter.

The big picture: In a way, Felix wrote, Netflix likes it when you use someone else's account. A paying customer is better than a non-paying customer, but a non-paying customer is better than no customer at all. And some password sharers can go on to become the next generation of paying customers.

In the platform wars, size, growth and brand recognition matter more than anything else. Particularly in a fast-growing market like India, the prime goal for Netflix is to get as many people attached to its platform as possible — whether they're paying or not.

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Sharing streaming passwords is more than a joke for Wall Street

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