In a nutshell: Netflix is rolling out a new feature designed to make it easier for users to transfer their profiles to standalone accounts. Profile Transfer is designed for secondary users - as in, not the primary account holder that pays for the service. When leveraging the tool, these users will be able to transfer their profile including viewing history, personalized recommendations, saved games and other custom settings to their own membership.
Netflix presented the feature in the guise of a tool that will be handy when life happens, like when people move, families grow or relationships end. While those are all valid use cases, Netflix is no doubt more interested in using it as a cog in its initiative to crack down on rampant password sharing. According to a survey from Leichtman Research Group, a third of US households that subscribe to Netflix participate in some form of password sharing.
It has been a rough year for the world's largest video streaming provider but executives are determined to right the ship and deliver additional value to shareholders. After losing subscribers for the first time in a decade, Netflix set about to identify the issue and come up with some solutions. They have been testing multiple options in countries like Argentina, Guatemala, Honduras and the Dominican Republic and are seemingly preparing them for wider adoption.
The biggest of these initiatives lands next month in the form of an ad-supported tier.
The Basic with Ads tier will include an average of 4-5 minutes of ads per hour comprised of 15- and 30-second clips that play before and during shows and films. Video quality will be capped at 720p and due to licensing restrictions, not all content will be available to stream in all regions. Furthermore, users will not have the ability to download content for offline viewing.
Basic with Ads starts at $6.99 from November 3 and will be available initially in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, the UK and the US.
Profile Transfer is rolling out to all members starting today. To get started, simply select the Transfer Profile option when hovering over your profile icon in the drop down menu on the Netflix homepage.
Image credit: Viktor Theo