With the recent news that Netflix is losing customers faster than it is acquiring them, the company has decided to tighten up its profile-sharing options. Up until now, with a premium account you could have up to five profiles on a single account:
…who live together in a single household.
But this is all set to change next month with the introduction of Add Extra Homes at additional cost. This initiative, strangely enough, is first being rolled out in South and Central America, which begs the question – why Third World countries first?
Here is the official announcement from Netflix.
One can only assume that the profiles we already have set up will need to be paid for from next month on. In our case, we have three profiles – ourselves, the mother-in-law, and my wife’s son, which means we’ll seriously have to consider how to handle that, bearing in mind that Argentina is facing a financial crisis of a stratospheric magnitude, coupled with 70% annual inflation. Oh, and a 75% tax on dollar credit card purchases, which is what Netflix is for us. Think I’m joking? I wish I was.
Netflix To Introduce Advertisement Tier
Added to Netflix’s woes, the company is also set to introduce a new subscription tier that will include ads, a move that runs entirely against the company’s initial raison d’etre. On the other hand, with the company no longer being the star of Wall St, it needs to boost its income, so it has teamed up with Microsoft in order to set up a new, lower-priced ad-supported subscription plan.
What exactly “lower-priced” will actually translate to is anyone’s guess and watching ad-free TV is and always has been the star attraction of streaming. In our household, we subscribe to both HBO MAX and Paramount+ at a knockdown price – both for around US$3.50 combined and I personally subscribe to Prime Video, but through other resources outside this banana republic so as not to attract the hideous 75% tax.
Both of these new Netflix initiatives will prompt many to consider cancelling their subscriptions, myself included.
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Netflix has always been to expensive for me!!!! I get so fed up with ads on commercial
TV, that I just turn the damn thing off.
Finally, something they should have done from the start. Having an account does not mean you can share it outside your home, but somehow the devices you register should allow portable access when outside your residence, which might result in a catch 22. The only streaming service we get is prime, because it is included with our Amazon membership. We enjoy products being shipped to our home, and reaping the extra 15% discount also helps. All the TV shows we watch are recorded, and thus are able to skip the commercials. Using something from the previous century, an exterior antenna means no monthly fees as well, Mindblower!