When the fine folks over at Multichoice decided to limit concurrent DStv streams to a single screen, South Africans were very much annoyed. The attempt at preventing password sharing makes sense from a financial perspective. But from a customer perspective, not so much. So news that Netflix is also working on ways to limit password sharing between households might draw at least some ire.
Or perhaps it won’t. The American streaming platform is no stranger to attempts to maintain fewer than four viewers on an account. Its latest crack at it, currently being tested in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru isn’t all that heavy-handed.
Home is where the Netflix is
The company is specifically looking at keeping accounts in the family. Or household, to use their terms. The current test allows Standard or Premium subscribers to add accounts for up to two extra viewers. Viewers who don’t live in the same household. So, like, that sister of yours who can’t be bothered to pay for her own Netflix true-crime habit.
Adding those users will cost about R50 ($3) per user per month. It’s an interesting way to try and limit password sharing. Your extended family doesn’t need a credit card to stream, and Netflix gets a little extra scratch. And nobody is told ‘This WILL happen’. At least, nobody’s being strong-armed just yet. It’s still a test, after all.
There’s another feature also being tested in South America. The ability to take an existing user profile and spin it off into a new or Extra Member account is now a thing. Think of it like finally getting off your family’s cellphone contract. It’s like growing up. Moving your viewing habits to your own Netflix, that you pay for. It’s a decent enough feature, one that we’d love to see expanded to shift two different viewing profiles into a single account. Like, say, for a young couple moving in together. Previous generations combined bookshelves. It’d be great to combine Netflix accounts. Sadly, that’s not an option quite yet. Just the one that makes Netflix extra cash, and bumps up paying user numbers, is available for now.