33% with Netflix share the service

New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) found that 83% of U.S. households have at least one streaming video service from fifteen top direct-to-consumer (DTC) and subscription video on-Demand (SVOD) services; including 67% of all households with Netflix.

However, not all Netflix and other DTC services are paid for directly by those who use them.  The study found that:

• 64% with Netflix fully pay for the service and do not share it with others outside the household
• 33% of Netflix services are used in more than one household:
  • 15% of Netflix services are used and paid for by those that also share them with someone outside the household.
  • 15% of Netflix services are used in one household but are borrowed from another household that is paying for the service
  • 3% of services are used by multiple households that share costs
• 3% of Netflix services are not paid for because they come with another service

These findings are based on an online survey of 4,400 households from throughout the United States and are part of a new LRG study, Internet-Delivered Pay-TV Services 2022. This is LRG’s fifth annual study focused on the vMVPD category, along with other DTC streaming video services.

Other findings from the study include:

• 29% of all DTC services are shared with others outside the household
• 12% of all DTC services are fully paid for by someone outside the household
• 34% of adults ages 18-34 have at least one DTC service that is fully paid for by someone else – compared to 14% of ages 35+
• 5% of all households had Netflix in the past year, but currently do not – similar to 6% for Hulu, 5% for Amazon Prime, and 5% for live pay-TV services
• Adults ages 18-44 account for 65% of all with a vMVPD pay-TV service
• 79% of vMVPD subscribers are very satisfied with their service – compared to 76% in 2020, and 69% in 2018
• 23% of all vMVPD services are shared by multiple households, including 7% of all vMVPD services that are fully paid for by someone outside the household

“Password sharing is an inherent feature of most streaming services.  Sharing helps to expand the user base and retain customers, but it also creates a gap between the number of households that have a service and actual paying subscribers,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. “For example, about two-thirds of U.S. households report having Netflix, but this includes about 10% of U.S. households that don’t pay for the service because it is borrowed from someone else’s subscription.” Leichtman Research Group