Netflix’s efforts to crack down on password sharing may have an unintended consequence. Data show that fewer subscribers are opening the app less often, and the smaller share of viewership is raising a red flag within the company.
Netflix may not be doing enough to bring viewers back
A new report from Bloomberg takes a look at Netflix’s viewer numbers and questions whether the streaming service is doing enough to entice people to come back regularly.
It’s not about declining subscribers, because Netflix has added more. Instead, it’s about subscribers not feeling enough of a pull to watch the content.The first half of 2026 showed that the total time spent on the platform only increased by a small amount. That increase was due to more subscribers, not individuals watching more content.
Decline has been happening for a couple of years
Netflix has its own way of measuring viewership, called qualified play days (QPD). Using its metric, supposedly viewership has been declining for a couple of years.
Add the viewership issue with slower advertising sales, slowing revenue growth, job cuts, not meeting expectations and even shaking up its leadership, and it doesn’t exactly look like a rosy picture at Netflix.
Most people remember when Netflix first started cracking down on password sharing in 2022, and the belief was that a drop in viewership would be temporary. This trend is now years long and doesn’t show signs of reversing.
The usual suspects aren’t feeding the trend
It would be easy to point to issues like a spike in cancellations, stronger competition and rising prices, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
For Netflix’s part, it seems to be blaming factors like insufficient promotion of its content, changes to the user interface and programming that isn’t hitting the mark with viewers.
The challenge has really become: how do you convince people to open the app more often?
Not the giant it once was
Netflix has a huge share of the entertainment industry, but it’s also true that for many people it has lost its appeal. You may even be part of the declining viewership numbers.
Source: Cord Cutters News