Hacking Netflix Passwords Increases Subscriber Counts

The streaming giant added another 9.3 million users in the first three months of the year, helped by programs such as The Gentleman. Photo: Christopher Rafael/Netflix

Netflix is ​​off to its strongest year since 2020 as crackdowns on password sharing boosted subscriber numbers.

The streaming giant added another 9.3 million in the first three months of the year users. , fueled by original hits such as Harlan Coben's adaptation of Fool Me Once and Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen.

That compares to just 1.75 million new subscribers in the same period last year, with the latest figures significantly ahead of analysts' forecasts.

Netflix's total subscriber base now stands at just under 270 million.

These figures highlight Netflix's dominance in the streaming sector after the company added a record 13 million new subscribers in the last quarter of 2023 .

The California-based company has overhauled its business amid rising inflation and a deepening cost-of-living crisis, delivering its strongest growth since the Covid lockdown.

The performance boost was driven by a tightened password-sharing policy that helped accelerate subscriber growth , as well as launching an ad-funded tier in late 2022.

At the end of last year, the company also raised prices for customers. .

In a letter to shareholders, Netflix said: “With an average of more than two people per household, our audience is more than half a billion people.

“No entertainment company has ever created programming on this scale and with such ambition.”

Netflix is ​​putting a renewed emphasis on profit after years of focusing on subscribers in the face of fierce competition from competitors.

The company reported net income of $2.3 billion, sharply exceeding the $1.3 billion profit recorded in the same quarter. last year. Revenue rose to $9.3 billion.

However, Netflix's second-quarter revenue guidance came in slightly below market expectations, sending the company's shares down about 5%.

Netflix's recent success came against the backdrop of problems with a competitor. Disney, which has been struggling to turn around its fortunes and was recently forced to fend off a proxy battle from activist investor Nelson Peltz.

Disney+ lost 1.3 million subscribers at the end of last year, although the media giant cut its streaming loss for the quarter by $300 million.

Netflix is ​​now looking to expand into new areas such as live streaming in a bid to cement its dominance in the age of streaming.

In January, the company signed a $5 billion deal to broadcast its flagship wrestling show, WWE Raw. For the first time in more than three decades, the program will not be broadcast live. traditional TV channel.