Research: 33% share Netflix password
March 30, 2022
Consumer research from Leichtman Research Group (LRG) finds that 83 per cent of US households have at least one streaming video service from fifteen top direct-to-consumer (DTC) and SVoD services; including 67 per cent of all households with Netflix.
However, not all Netflix and other DTC services are paid for directly by those who use them.
The study found that:
- 64 per cent with Netflix fully pay for the service and do not share it with others outside the household
- 33 per cent of Netflix subscriptions are used in more than one household:
- 15 per cent of Netflix services are used and paid for by those that also share them with someone outside the household
- 15 per cent of Netflix services are used in one household but are borrowed from another household that is paying for the service
- 3 per cent of services are used by multiple households that share costs
- 3 per cent of Netflix services are not paid for because they come with another service
These findings are based on an online survey of 4,400 households from throughout the US and are part of a the LRG study, Internet-Delivered Pay-TV Services 2022.
Other findings from the study include:
- 29 per cent of all DTC services are shared with others outside the household
- 12 per cent of all DTC services are fully paid for by someone outside the household
- 34 per cent of adults ages 18-34 have at least one DTC service that is fully paid for by someone else – compared to 14 per cent of ages 35+
- 5 per cent of all households had Netflix in the past year, but currently do not – similar to 6 per cent for Hulu, 5 per cent for Amazon Prime, and 5 per cent for live pay-TV services
- Adults ages 18-44 account for 65 per cent of all with a vMVPD pay-TV service
- 79 per cent of vMVPD subscribers are very satisfied with their service – compared to 76 per cent in 2020, and 69 per cent in 2018
- 23 per cent of all vMVPD services are shared by multiple households, including 7 per cent of all vMVPD services that are fully paid for by someone outside the household
“Password sharing is an inherent feature of most streaming services. Sharing helps to expand the user base and retain customers, but it also creates a gap between the number of households that have a service and actual paying subscribers,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group. “For example, about two-thirds of US households report having Netflix, but this includes about 10 per cent of US households that don’t pay for the service because it is borrowed from someone else’s subscription.”