Baby Boomers Could be the Answer to Netflix Subscription Woes – Here’s Why
Written by
Dawn Allcot
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When Netflix announced it lost 200,000 subscribers year-over-year, it was the first time the streaming service had a drop in subscribers in a decade, Forbes reported.
As Netflix considers revenue streams to make up for the loss, one area stands out: Viewers who are using the login and password from someone outside their household to watch Netflix.
According to a recent survey from Morning Consult, 10% of adults admit to using the Netflix password of someone outside their home. This translates to roughly 28 million people, according to Morning Consult’s estimates. In a letter to shareholders, Netflix similarly estimated that roughly 30 million households in the U.S. and Canada tap into the service from someone else’s account.
The biggest culprits? Baby boomers.
The survey found that 16% of baby boomers said they don’t subscribe to Netflix but use someone else’s password. Meanwhile, 9% of millennials and GenXers, combined, admitted to the same, while only 7% of GenZ said they do so.
More than half (52%) of those polled said they would consider subscribing to the service if they could no longer use a friend’s password. Roughly one-third of all adults (both subscribers and non-subscribers) said they would pay a higher subscription fee to legally share their password with more people outside of their home.
Within these two groups lies a potential solution to Netflix revenue problems: Crackdown on password-sharing and, simultaneously, find a way to convert those viewers into paid subscribers.
