Streaming Services Lost $9.1 Billion to Password Sharing: Report

We witnessed theadventandgrowthof various streaming services this past year. To catch up with the variety of shows being offered across multiple streaming platforms, people started sharing accounts with their friends and family and it is taking a toll on the revenue of OTT giants.

According to a new report byThe Hollywood Reporter, this trend of sharing passwords led to awhopping $9.1 billion lossto streaming platforms. The estimates come from Park Associates, a research firm. The losses would reach up to $12.5 billion in 2024, predicts the firm.

Age plays a major role in password sharing. As astudy from Hub Entertainment Researchsuggests, about64 percent of 13-24-year-olds have shared passwords with someone who’s not living with them. The figures are significantly lower at 16 percent for people older than 35 years of age. Overall, about 31 percent of consumers share passwords with distant friends and acquaintances.

The numbers are not much of a surprise as people in their 30’s would have better financial stability to afford all streaming services, unlike young adults. On the other hand, young adults are comfortable with the concept of sharing.

“There is a cultural shift particularly among young people, where sharing things with people you know, or them sharing with you, is an accepted way of doing business, and it is an attitude that is going to impact how they consume lots of things, not just TV and movies,”Jon Giegengack from Hub Entertainment Research told The Hollywood Reporter.

While Netflix is alright andeven jokes about this behavior, Disneyis apparently not, as it has partnered with cable company Charter to “implement business rules and techniques” in order to prevent password sharing. So, do you share password of streaming services with your friends and family? Let us know in the comments.

Subin B

Subin writes about consumer tech, software, and security. He secretly misses the headphone jack while pretending he’s better off with the wireless freedom.

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