Netflix on Wednesday said it is testing charging a fee to subscribers who share their accounts with people who don't live in their homes.

The US-based steaming service has long taken a relaxed approach to users sharing passwords with family or friends, but recently saw stock dive on quarterly results that showed cooling subscriber growth.

Competition in the streaming television market meanwhile has been ramping up, particularly from Disney+, with the cost of producing coveted original shows climbing as well.

In the coming weeks, Netflix will begin offering subscribers in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru the option to add as many as two people to "sub-accounts" at a monthly fee of $2 to $3, Netflix product innovation director Chengyi Long explained.

"We recognize that people have many entertainment choices, so we want to ensure any new features are flexible and useful for members, whose subscriptions fund all our great TV and films," Long said in a blog post.

The Silicon Valley streaming titan has been working on ways for subscribers to share "outside their household... while also paying a bit more," she said.

Netflix said it will allow people already sharing accounts to transfer profile and viewing history information to new sub-accounts.

Long said the company will study the utility of the new model in the three countries before making changes anywhere else.

Netflix ended last year with 221.8 million subscribers, just below target, after booming during coronavirus lockdowns that kept people at home and on the platform.

Things are not looking better for the first quarter of 2022, with the most recent Netflix earnings report saying the firm expected to add only 2.5 million subscribers.

Most of the 8.3 million subscriptions added at the end of last year came from outside North America, according to the streaming service.

Netflix recently announced subscription price bumps in the United States, with the basic option now costing $9.99, and the most expensive going up to $19.99.

Related Links
Satellite-based Internet technologies

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

The development of the world's first distortion-free stretchable micro-LED meta-display technology
Seoul, South Korea (SPX) Mar 15, 2022
The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (President Sang Jin Park, hereafter referred to as KIMM), an institute under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Science and ICT, has successfully developed a new stretchable meta-display technology that can be stretched up to 25% without image distortion, for the first time in the world. Senior researcher Dr. Bongkyun Jang and his research group members of the Department of Nano-Mechanics at KIMM have recently developed a distortion-free stretchable ... read more