Are You Still Watching? 37% of People Sharing Streaming Passwords With People They Don’t Live With
The Manifest surveyed 401 people about their streaming habits and found that Netflix is the most popular streaming platform by far. The platform may be losing revenue given that 37% of people share their passwords with people they don’t live with, though.
As people stay home, the demand for in-home entertainment has increased.
The Manifest surveyed 401 people about their streaming habits and how they may have changed during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
We found that almost half of the U.S. (47%) increased their streaming time in the past 30 days.
Are streaming services seeing a corresponding increase in profit? Possibly not, since The Manifest also found that a significant number of people are sharing passwords with friends and family they do not live with, which may harm streaming companies’ revenue.
Our Findings
- Three-quarters of people in the U.S. (75%) pay for Netflix, making it the most popular streaming service by far. Meanwhile, around half of the U.S. (56%) pays for Amazon Prime Video, and more than a third (40%) pays for Hulu.
- One-third of subscribers (36%) share their streaming service subscriptions with 1 to 2 other people, while more than a quarter of subscribers (27%) share it with 3 to 4 people.
- The majority of people who share their streaming service subscriptions (74%) share it with the family they live with. However, 37% of people share it with family, friends, and strangers they do not live with, demonstrating a large potential revenue loss for streaming platforms.
- Almost half of people (47%) say their streaming habits have increased in the last 30 days, while a third of subscribers (36%) say they continue to watch the same amount during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Netflix Remains the Most Popular Streaming Service
With traditional cable TV providers losing 6 million subscribers in 2019, streaming platforms such as Netflix and Hulu represent the future of media content.
Three-quarters of people in the U.S. (75%) pay for Netflix, demonstrating the rapid growth of its user base and revenue.
Meanwhile, more than half of people use Amazon Prime (56%), and more than a third (40%) pay for Hulu (owned by Disney).
So, why is Netflix beating Amazon and Hulu?
- Netflix was the first streaming service.
- Netflix offers the most original content.
Most People Are Netflix Password Sharing, Which Drastically Cuts Netflix’s Revenue
People share their streaming service passwords to save money, even though it may technically be against the streaming services’ official policies.
Three-quarters of streaming customers (74%) share their accounts with at least one other person, saving money on their media costs.
One-third of people (34%) share their password with 1 to 2 others.
Meanwhile, around a quarter of people (27%) share their accounts with 3 to 4 people. About 13% share it with more than 4 people.
By sharing accounts with others, customers are decreasing the streaming platforms’ revenue growth.
Let’s look at an extreme example of Netflix password sharing and theoretical loss of revenue.
Netflix has 187 million subscribers. If 27% share their password with 4 people, then Netflix may actually have 4 times that number of subscribers (approx. 389 million).
The average Netflix subscription costs $12.99 per month, so the platform could be losing billions each month due to shared accounts.
More Than One-Third of People Share Streaming Passwords Outside Their Household
Netflix’s model has always been about sharing content within a household, which is why you can create multiple watching profiles within an account.
The Manifest found that 74% of people share their streaming passwords with family members they live with, but 25% share their accounts with family members they don’t live with.
Meanwhile, 12% of people share an account password with friends or acquaintances outside of their homes. This means that 37% of people are sharing their account passwords with people they do not live with.
This out-of-home sharing goes against most streaming platform’s policies.
Netflix, for example, created its multiple-profile platform only for people within the same household to share one account.
Today, Netflix’s terms and conditions say, “The Netflix service and any content viewed through the service are for your personal and non-commercial use only and may not be shared with individuals beyond your household.”
More than one-third of the U.S. population blatantly ignores these terms, with 37% giving account access to people outside of their homes.
Streaming Platforms Want to Decrease Piracy, Including Netflix Password Sharing
In 2019, Netflix began to crack down on Netflix password sharing, calling the trend “piracy.” On October 30, 2019, the Alliance of Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) announced it was launching a task force dedicated to “reduc[ing] unauthorized access to content,” specifically focusing on streaming services password sharing.
Getting rid of piracy, however, is not only a technical challenge but also a marketing challenge for competitive streaming services.
The streaming market is now crowded with enterprise giants including Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Apple, Facebook, and Google (YouTube). If someone only has $25 a month for streaming entertainment, they can now choose which services they want to pay for and may not pick the streaming service with stricter password-sharing regulations.
Almost Half of People Watching More Content on Streaming Platforms Due to COVID-19 Pandemic
As COVID-19 spreads globally, people find themselves spending more time at home and, as a result, streaming more media.
Almost half of people (47%) say they increased their time on streaming platforms in the past 30 days. The Manifest collected this data from April 7–10, 2020.
Meanwhile, more than a third of people (36%) say their viewing habits stayed the same. Only 5% of people say they watch less television now than 30 days ago.
Streaming companies are seeing their value grow as people invest more time and money in streaming platforms.
Streaming Piracy Increases As People Stuck at Home
Piracy rates also increased dramatically since the beginning of the pandemic, indicating a willingness to watch but an unwillingness to pay.
The 2014 app Popcorn Time, which allows people to stream Netflix content illegally, surged in popularity in the past month.
Furthermore, people enjoy other illegal streaming sites as well. Chris Blachut, the co-founder of humor and lifestyle blog The Unconventional Route, explained how illegal streaming can offer a larger variety of content.
“When there’s a show I really want to watch that’s not on Netflix (or any other platform, for that matter), I’ll find illegal streams online,” Blachut said. “The video quality is lower, but I’ll take that trade-off if I believe I can get higher-quality entertainment than whatever Netflix is trying to push on me.
While streaming services see an uptick in platform use during the COVID-19 pandemic, their revenue might not match the increased usage.
People Prefer Streaming Platforms, but May Not Be Willing to Pay
Streaming services offer an alternative to traditionally expensive cable TV and continue to grow in popularity.
Platforms such as Netflix may be seeing a huge loss in potential revenue due to password sharing. Streaming platforms are looking for new ways to reduce illegal streaming as piracy rates increase during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although streaming hours increased during the start of the pandemic, streaming platforms may not see this high growth reflected in their revenue due to the prevalence of password sharing.
