Password-Sharing Is Pervasive Across Streaming Services

It seems everyone is talking about Netflix’s password-sharing problem—but the streaming behemoth isn’t alone. Data from Bain’s NPS Prism^® benchmarking platform, collected in partnership with Dynata, shows that subscription sharing is prevalent across the preeminent “over the top” (OTT) services. On average, one in four users are borrowing someone else’s paid subscription.

The average US consumer pays for 2.93 subscriptions and borrows 1.02 accounts. Disney+ and Netflix are the largest victims of password sharing, with 33% and 30% of subscriptions shared respectively. Hulu and HBO Max follow close behind.

Password sharing is pervasive across ages and income levels, although users who access others’ accounts tend to be younger and lower income. Around 43% of users ages 18 to 24 share someone else’s subscription, compared with 22% of users over the age of 35. And as income goes up, the likelihood of password sharing goes down. Consumers with a household income of less than $75,000 per year account for more than half of subscription shares.

As the streaming industry confronts this shared, evolving phenomenon, leading companies will take a holistic, deeply customer-centric approach—especially as subscriber growth decelerates.

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About the Research

Data powered by Dynata, a leading global first-party data and insights platform.