Netflix added over 7.6 million paid subscriptions globally in the six months ended June 30, the streaming giant said in its earnings report on Wednesday.
The additions came from 1.275 million new accounts in the United States and Canada, just over 3 million in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 767,000 in Latin America and 2.523 million in Asia Pacific.
This comes after Netflix started racking up hundreds of thousands of new subscribers since it started charging people extra if they have other users on their account in the US. Netflix began testing password-sharing fees in Latin America last year, then introduced fees in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain in February and in the US, UK and Australia at the end of May.
The crackdown on password sharing appears to have had a significant impact in the United States and Canada. In the three months from January to March, Netflix only gained 102,000 new accounts. But between April and June – the additional fee was introduced in May – Netflix saw 1.173 million new accounts added.
Learn more: Netflix Password Sharing Crackdown: What It Means For You
Netflix also announced on Wednesday that it is ending the cheapest subscription for new signups, removing its basic ad-free option in the US and UK unless you already have it. Netflix phased out the ad-free version in Canada last month.
The only options on the US Netflix site are now: Standard with ads ($7), Standard ($15.50) and Premium ($20). It also now costs you an additional $8 in the US on top of your subscription fee to have someone outside your household use your account.
Other streaming services, like Max, Disney Plus, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video, currently have no additional charges for password sharing.
For more on streaming, here’s CNET’s tips on how to pay less for your streaming service, and here are our picks for the best streaming services of 2023 and the best live TV streaming services if you want to ditch cable.
