Netflix was a game changer in how people consumed entertainment — it allowed people access to content whenever they want it and pioneered binge-content. One of the loopholes of the online streaming service is subscription sharing, where users share their account with friends, family, and anyone they trust with their password.
In theory, this phenomenon of sharing a Netflix subscription is a business model obstacle for the company. Earlier this summer, a report from Parks Associates found that one-in-five young adults living in the U.S. are using someone else’s streaming video service instead of their own.
But co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings told media at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that Netflix is fine with content sharing. “We love people sharing Netflix whether they’re two people on a couch or ten people on a couch,” said Hastings. “That’s a positive thing, not a negative thing.”
As for family subscriptions, there is also some murkiness surrounding kids moving away from home and continue using their family subscription. Hastings, on his end, remains optimistic and open-minded.
“By in large, as kids move on in their life they like to have control of their life and as they have an income, we see them separately subscribe,” he said. “It really hasn’t been a problem.”
Part of that reason may be the fact that despite subscription sharing, Netflix has been making considerable profits — the company reported $1.74 billion in revenue and $74 million in profit in their third quarter earnings for 2015.
“Sharing entertainment is the fundamental thing to entertainment,” said Hastings. “So we are very positive about it.”
