VIACA - Streaming password sharing costing Netflix others billions - Citi

A move to crack down on streaming password sharing at Netflix (NFLX +2.9%) is likely to bear fruit, Citi suggests, saying the habit costs streaming companies billions. Analyst Jason Bazinet says the widespread habit of sharing online passwords to subscription video-on-demand services forgoes about $25B a year for U.S. companies, estimating Netflix accounts for about 25% of that lost revenue. And that's a healthy chunk in relative revenue, as Netflix made about $25B in its last fiscal year. “As streaming services move to center stage, thwarting this theft will be of growing importance for shareholders,” Bazinet writes. The issue isn't Netflix's alone, of course; Citi says it's going to become a more important issue for HBO Max/AT&T (T +0.1%), Disney (DIS +1.6%), Peacock/Comcast (CMCSA +1.4%), Paramount Plus/Showtime ([[VIAC]] +1.6%, [[VIACA]] +1.5%) and Spotify (SPOT +1.7%) as well. BofA has also noted that cracking down on sharing could spur net subscriber

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Streaming password sharing costing Netflix, others billions - Citi