Netflix lures 8 million new subscribers by profiting from its stricter approach to password sharing

Netflix has added more than 8 million subscribers in three months thanks to a campaign against password sharing.

The US streaming giant now has more than 278 million subscribers watching its shows, after attracting new users.

The company added 8.05 million paying customers in the three months through June, compared to 5 million in the same period in 2023.

The number of new customers has skyrocketed since the beginning of the year, when the company made it harder to share accounts between friends and family, prompting millions of users to sign up for their own subscriptions.

Many have also tuned in to watch Netflix series including One Day, Scoop, starring Gillian Anderson, and the controversial global sensation Baby Reindeer.

While the number of subscribers exceeded analysts’ forecasts, Netflix warned that subscriber growth in the next quarter will be lower than the same period in 2023.

The streaming giant yesterday posted a profit of £1.6 billion and revenue of more than £7.4 billion.

Netflix has thrived during the pandemic, when much of the world stayed home, but analysts have questioned whether the series can maintain that trend.

Since then, the group has focused on the ad-supported option, which offers viewers lower prices.

Netflix reported that the number of subscribers for its ad-supported subscriptions increased 34 percent from the previous quarter, but the company did not disclose how many subscribers opted for the option.

“Our advertising activities are growing steadily and are making an increasingly important contribution to our business,” it told investors.

“But it takes time to build a business from scratch. And given the size of our subscription revenue, we don’t expect advertising to be the primary driver of our revenue growth in 2024 or 2025.”