Absolutely nobody should be shocked by this.
After cracking down on those who shared account passwords on May 23, Netflix ended up with its four largest days of signups in history.
According to research firm Antenna, from May 24-27, Netflix had a record number of new subscribers and nearly 100,000 sign-ups on both the 26th and the 27th. Basically, those who had been using other people's accounts now had to make their own.
A few years ago, another research firm, Magid claimed that 26 percent of millennials were sharing passwords for video streaming services. So, these record-breaking numbers for Netflix make sense.
Streaming is like crack for many, the U.S. is after all a binge-watching nation, and taking that drug away, even for just a day, is enough for many to finally whip out their credit cards and subscribe.
So, while Disney Plus lost close to 4 million subscribers in the year’s second quarter, Netflix added around 1.75 million. There are now 232.5 million subscribed Netflix accounts worldwide.
Expect every other streamer, especially Disney Plus, to do the same exact password-cracking protocol in the coming months. It’s inevitable.