New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group has found 53% of US households have at least one streaming service from the top 15 direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, including 67% of all households with Netflix.
However, Leichtman’s research also found that not all of them are fully paid for.
33% of Netflix services are used in more than one household, while 15% of Netflix services are used and paid for by those that also share them with someone outside the household. 3% of services are used by multiple households that share costs.
The figure for Netflix sharing is above that of DTC service as a whole, where 29% of all DTC services are shared with others 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% of US households that don’t pay for the service because it is borrowed from someone else’s subscription.”
Netflix terms of service clearly state a customer may not share their account with individuals beyond their household.
Earlier this month, it emerged Netflix was to give subscribers the option to share their subscriptions with people outside their households in test markets.
