I have had Netflix since the days of mailing discs in red envelopes. That relationship is about to end.

Currently, the Sphinx family shares one Netflix account. In 2023, Netflix plans to require that each household have a separate account OR that I pay extra (over the $18 I already pay) for the Sphinx kids to continue sharing the account.

Nope, I'm not playing along. Netflix has some good stuff on it, but it comes in second to HBO/Hulu. It seems that if I want to watch a particular movie, the chance it will be on Netflix is pretty much zero. It wasn't like this back in the day, when you could count on Netflix to have the latest titles as well as documentaries and independent films. Now, it is sensational reality programing and so, so much stuff I don't want to watch.

So I will cancel Netflix as soon as they make the change.

I suspect I'm not alone.

I am not sure why they are doing this in such an aggressive, abrupt way. The problem they are trying to address is that a whole bunch of people who don't know each other use one account. They could just make it so that each account can only be logged on from a fixed number of devices at the same time, but let people share passwords.

Say they allowed me only to have four devices logged in at the same time. Eventually, there would be collisions where some people couldn't get on because others were using it. And if I am paying and I can't get onto my account because others are using it, I would just change the password and kick everyone out. Then I would give it to my kids.

Is anyone else thinking of losing Netlflix?

With the old cable TV model, different households needed different accounts anyway. I don‘t see why Netflix is being “unreasonable” if they want different households to have different accounts.

That said, it probably makes sense to rotate over different streaming services if they do not consistently produce new content that you like to watch. A bit of a hussle signing up and canceling services every few months or every year, but not an undue burden.

I couldn't agree more. SO has a Netflix account. I wish he'd cancel it.

And especially--

"It seems that if I want to watch a particular movie, the chance it will be on Netflix is pretty much zero. It wasn't like this back in the day, when you could count on Netflix to have the latest titles as well as documentaries and independent films. Now, it is sensational reality programing and so, so much stuff I don't want to watch."

Not a Netflix user; I'm not big on subscription services. That said, I'll sign up for one for a few months if there is some kind of deal going on, like the 99 cent a month Hulu for a year. But even that I cancelled after nine or ten months.

A friend gave me a gift subscription to Netflix back when they only did DVDs. I think it was for three months and I didn't continue after that. I think I signed up for a few months after they started the streaming service and dropped it again; we're talking a long time ago. Since then, I've signed up twice, and only kept the service for a month or two, mostly to watch The Crown.

quote:

Originally posted by Axtremus:
With the old cable TV model, different households needed different accounts anyway. I don‘t see why Netflix is being “unreasonable” if they want different households to have different accounts.

That said, it probably makes sense to rotate over different streaming services if they do not consistently produce new content that you like to watch. A bit of a hussle signing up and canceling services every few months or every year, but not an undue burden.

Pretty much where I'm at.

Guess I'm just not their target market...

quote:

Originally posted by Axtremus:
With the old cable TV model, different households needed different accounts anyway. I don‘t see why Netflix is being “unreasonable” if they want different households to have different accounts.

The old cable TV model doesn't have much to do with what is going on now, though. Cable goes to each house, so it wouldn't be possible to share one account anyway among distant family members.

I have YouTubeTV. It costs a bundle, but still cheaper than cable, and significantly better. It is worth the money to me, so I pay it. I can have three additional households on my account, notwithstanding what cable companies do. If they changed it so two of the Sphinxes could not use it, I would probably drop it.

Maybe a more appropriate comparison would be cellphone companies. There is no reason why they should allow me to add phones for outher households to my account, but they do. They charge me $10, because each phone has its own number and we share data. And it is helpful that they tell the bill payer who is using what data, etc.

Netflix wants to charge even though it is providing no additional benefit to the bill payer and is not enhancing its services in exchange for extra fees. They just want more money for a service that is already on the high side in terms of cost.

I think they're making a possibly fatal mistake. If they were going to do this, they should have done it during Covid when people were trapped in their homes.

Not familiar with Netflix, so I looked up their sharing rules. According to this, a Netflix account is for "people who live in a single household".

Has this been the rule all along and now they're just getting around to enforcing it?

edit: Found more info on what Netflix is doing.

https://about.netflix.com/en/n...date-to-paid-sharing

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/n...no-shared-passwords/

As a long time Xfinity user, I'm used to having something for free that they subsequently start charging for. Used to be the converter boxes were free, then they were a couple of bucks a month and now they're up to $8 or $9. We had Xfinity Mobile for $3 a month for about a year and a half and were probably part of their pilot rollout, so they priced low to attract subscribers. They cut you a deal on the package, but then raise the broadcast and sports fees. They have a free streaming app I use with a Roku (so I could get rid of a couple of boxes), but I see it's gone from Xfinity Stream Beta to Xfinity Stream. Waiting for a "per user/device" charge to pop up soon.

It's all a game of cat and mouse. In the case of Xfinity, people get pretty charged up when they make a change but I don't know how many subscribers they end up losing. Or they make more money on the subscribers they have and they don't care if they lose some. I remember when they pulled Turner Classic Movies from their regular tiers and stuck it in a sports package that was an extra $10 a month. I refused to up the ante and have lived without TCM since then.

quote:

Originally posted by Cindysphinx:


Maybe a more appropriate comparison would be cellphone companies. There is no reason why they should allow me to add phones for outher households to my account, but they do. They charge me $10, because each phone has its own number and we share data. And it is helpful that they tell the bill payer who is using what data, etc.

Sharing data?

I have five cellphones for the family on Cricket Wireless. All have unlimited data, so it doesn't matter who uses what. I spend $135 a month for all five total. Far, far cheaper than five individual plans.

I play the game Ax suggested. Just cancelled HBOMax Saturday when the deal ran out. When they offer me another year at 6 or 7 bucks I'll sign back up.

Honestly, almost all these channels have a bunch of rehashed Z-list crap you wouldn't want to watch. I hate having to wade through it to find something I want.

Everything is a bait and switch. We have xfinity. Every year they raise our rates, and every year we call them up and say we can't afford it and they drop us back to their old, cheap rates. Every freaking year.

I've not had the same success with the "premium" streaming services like HBOMax, Showtime, etc. But usually there's something we want to watch, so we sign up for their trial, watch it, and then cancel.

EDIT: one distinct difference with Netflix - when they were a newer company in the streaming space, they actively encouraged you to share your password within a loosely-defined "household." They continue to allow (at least, last time I checked) up to 5 members in a household, so I'm not exactly sure the point they're trying to make.

What if I (the primary $$ Netflix member) go to Vancouver, invite my son over and we watch a Netflix movie. This certainly happens. Will I be flagged as potentially outside of my household? What if he logs on and queues up the movie while I'm making adult beverages and popcorn for us to enjoy with the movie. Are we in violation of the "other households" contract now?

I don't see how they can possibly police this.

Yes, they encourage different profiles, so all five sphinxes have a different profile.

They can enforce it, easily. Just don’t allow more than one IP address per account, right?

And then you give the primary the ability to roam, where if the primary logs in from a different IP, a text goes to the primary asking for a verification code. Or something.

You Tube knows when I am visiting LS, and it warns me that I can’t do this more than x times a year.

quote:

Originally posted by Nina:
Everything is a bait and switch. We have xfinity. Every year they raise our rates, and every year we call them up and say we can't afford it and they drop us back to their old, cheap rates. Every freaking year.

The problem with Xfinity (at least around us) is that this used to work but no longer does. They know there's not really an alternative. We rely on them for our home internet (we both work from home and have the top of the line speed package) and they have the fastest thing going by far. We could get Verizon FIOS (the only other wired option to our house) but that would involve digging a 400 foot trench in our yard which they would only do if we committed to a LONG contract with them but their advertised speeds aren't anywhere near what Xfinity gives us. We could try one of the wireless providers like Tmobile but I have them for my cell service and just their service is semi-sketchy at our house half the time - I would not want to rely on them for my main household internet. So Xfinity pretty much has us over a barrel and they know it. So every year when we call and threaten to cancel, they pretty much dare us to do it and we lose the game of chicken and swallow their $20/month price increase.

That said, I did get a text about a month ago from Tmobile about them completing an upgrade on the tower we use most frequently and our service has been much better lately, so maybe they'd be worth another look. Hmmmmmm......I would absolutely love to tell Xfinity to pound sand.

Oh....except that here in Philadelphia, we are the hometown of Comcast who not only owns Xfinity but also owns half of the major sports teams in town so it used to be that if you didn't have Comcast, you couldn't watch any of the Philly sports teams. I don't know if that's the case anymore (I hear tell of friends who "cut the cable" being able to watch them on youtube.tv) but that is another thing that kept us chained to Comcast for so long. Back when FIOS and Xfinity had pretty much equal internet speeds, Mr. Lisa refused to give up his beloved sports to make the switch.

Ugh cable companies suck and have sucked for a long time. Now that Netflix has grown up into a big boy company, why should it be any different. After all, screwing your customers is the American way, right?

We have Fios for internet. It’s fast enough. I think the only other option is Comcast, but that is hardly an upgrade.

When I cut the cord, I went with Sling and saved a ton. But their platform fails to record things I desperately hoped to see, and they were missing key channels. And I had to manually program it to record for a few hours after a tennis tournament in case there was a rain delay. And they limited how much I could record.

YouTube is flawless, so I decided life was too short to deal with Sling.

We got a deal on 15 or so TV channels you get to choose from Spectrum.

I can watch them on my phone. I haven't found anything I like yet.

My phone is Spectrum (uses Verizon). It was bundled with the internet and cost $14 a month. Unlimited talk/ text. I don't know the roaming data limit but haven't gone over it.

I want a bigger phone with a better display. I'm looking at phones compatible with Spectrum. It's very limited.

I want a Xiaomai. Can't. I'll probably buy a Samsung A53 5G or an S 2O FE. You can buy a monthly Samsung warranty plan for $7. I don't usually buy these but Samsungs are temperamental.

We find most of what we want to watch is on Netflix, albeit mostly series not films.

I also have multiple users: my kids in different parts of the county. I am quite sure that only one user can watch at a time.

Jf

I don't understand why anyone would think that Netflix should allow people who do not live in your house to watch their channel on your account at a different residence. Makes no sense to me.

How much is youtube? We have Netflix (and I like their content, for the most part) and various other subscriptions, but it would be nice to have just one subscription that meets all our needs.

We do streaming only. No cable.