Netflix considering 'monetising account sharing' next year after trial

Following a trial in South America, Netflix is considering 'monetising account sharing' and revealed when this might come into place.

Yep, the days of account sharing and booting people in the next room off because it's your turn to watch Bake Off could soon be gone, as the streaming giant said in the quarterly earnings call on Tuesday, 18 October.

Netflix said that it is considering monetising account sharing after they'd trialled a system in South America earlier this year.

The streaming giant said in its shareholder letter: "We've landed on a thoughtful approach to monetize account sharing and we'll begin rolling this out more broadly starting in early 2023.

"After listening to consumer feedback, we are going to offer the ability for sharers to manage their devices more easily and to create sub-accounts, if they want to pay for family or friends."

Not exactly what you want to hear before a weekend of binging boxsets, is it?

Still, the news is to be expected, with the company introducing a new 'add a home' feature in Argentina, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras earlier this year.

"It’s great that our members love Netflix movies and TV shows so much they want to share them more broadly.

"But today’s widespread account sharing between households undermines our long-term ability to invest in and improve our service."

She added: "So we’ve been carefully exploring different ways for people who want to share their account to pay a bit more. In March 2022, we launched an 'add extra member' feature in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru.

"From next month, we will launch an alternative 'add a home' feature in Argentina, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras."

The streaming service has yet to announce how much it will charge customers for the ‘extra user’ service - but if it’s anything like the pilot scheme in Latin America, it will follow a ‘one quarter of the basic rate’ ideology.

LADBible has contacted Netflix for comment.