I analyze the Netflix crisis in Spain: 1 million subscribers lost for lack of being able to share outside the home
They have not been easy months for Netflix Spain: our country was one of the first to ban out-of-home account sharing, which meant that it was impossible for a group of 4 friends to pay the subscription in half. The number of simultaneous screens has also been reduced to 3 in the most expensive plan, and there was even a boycott in social networks for all these measures.
What was the purpose of netflix? Of the nearly 10 million subscribers that Netflix had in Spain, some did not pay as such when sharing a profile. Consequently, the number of active users was lower. With this move, the streaming platform would get, on the one hand, encourage “ghost” subscribers to pay their monthly fees. And on the other hand, increase your income.
It’s too early to know if it worked for them, but Bloomberg confirmed this morning that Netflix has lost 1 million subscribers in Spain in recent months. In other words, a tenth of its users abandoned the streaming platform in 2023. And even though Netflix has grown globally (1.75 million additional users worldwide in the first quarter of 2023), in our country sank. And if we analyze the factors that caused the stampede of more than 1 million people from the app of streaming the most watched in Spain?
The reasons why Netflix lost 1 million subscribers in Spain
First reason: the “anti-account sharing” plan outside the home
The first reason is the most obvious: out-of-home ‘anti-share account’ plan didn’t work as expected. It wasn’t a failure, as Netflix would have backed down, but if 1 million subscribers left, it’s because they weren’t tempted by the rest of the individual plans What does the platform offer? streaming. And this is a problem that can get worse over time, because sooner or later many users will stop sharing an account for a thousand reasons, and the number of victims can be even higher.
Reason Two: Unattractive Base Plans
In connection with the previous reason, basic plans are not attractive. For example, he basic plan without ads For 7.99 euros per month, it offers HD playback quality (720p) and 1 simultaneous screen. That is to say, watching a series with him is like going back to 2010. And the basic plan with advertisingAlthough it costs 5.49 euros per month and offers Full HD (1020p) quality, it cannot be used without an Internet connection because it does not offer downloads. How do you catch users who are forced to stop sharing, with plans that will pay more than before, for lower quality?
Third reason: Competition?
Finally, the competition is more and more aggressive: Disney Plus and HBO Max will not offer as many series and films as Netflixbut their products make more noise. First video provides a platform for streamingfree delivery on Amazon, access to Premier Music and many other functions for only 4.99 euros per month. AND SkyShowtime It is available in Spain at 5.99 euros per month (until Tuesday, April 25, at only 2.99 euros per month). I mean, there’s a lot of competition.
In summary, netflix You should analyze whether the plan of banning account sharing with friends is beneficial for the platform, or on the contrary, they should revert to the previous model even if the number of active paying users is lower.