More evidence has emerged from specialist consulting firm Cartesian of the potentially huge costs associated with the concept of password sharing for subscription services.
Fundamentally the research shows that what has been an effective strategy for OTT video providers to win new subscribers appears to be backfiring. Sharing within a household is normally allowed within subscription contracts; but, sharing outside of a household is not.In its How Consumers Access Streaming Video: The Risks of Credential Sharing report, Cartesian categorises the three main types of sharing : family and friends, extended network, and theft. In the survey, credential sharers name close friends (29%) and non-household relatives (39%) as sources for account credentials.
The company found that as many as 27% of consumers access streaming video content using account credentials borrowed or stolen from someone they don’t live with. The same percentage say that the main reason that they use someone else’s credentials is because it’s easy and convenient. Others say it’s simply because the content they want is not available on services they already pay for.
Over half (56%) of the respondents that use someone else’s credentials to access a streaming video service state they already ‘pay enough’ for content - a worrying figure in the wake of new streaming services entering the market in the US and across the world. Yet just over two-fifths (42%) those who use someone else’s password to access a streaming video service indicate they would be willing to pay for the content if it wasn’t easily accessible.
“In our work with streaming video providers, we make the distinction between credential sharing within the household and outside of it,” says Sam Kornstein, VP of strategy and analytics at Cartesian commenting on the results revealed in the How Consumers Access Streaming Video: The Risks of Credential Sharing report.
“These behaviours are seen differently by providers and consumers, and providers increasingly have reason to be concerned. Our streaming video credential sharing and prevention solution uses the full scope of viewing data that streaming video services already collect to identify which accounts are engaged in credential sharing or theft, and to take sensible steps to prevent this behaviour. You need to analyse nuanced patterns to determine whether complex usage behaviours are actually legitimate use or rather credential sharing.”
