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Have you been letting extended family members and friends use your Netflix log-in? Netflix would rather you didn't. The company unveiled a new $12 Family Plan that lets you stream four movies to different devices at the same time. Under the standard $8-per-month subscription plan, you can watch only two video streams at a time.
While the new Family Plan is being offered as an option to help quell the number of Netflix freeloaders—about 10 million people, according to one analyst—Netflix doesn't think it will be especially successful. In its earning report, the company said it expects the plan will attract less than 1 percent of its subscribers.
Overall, the news for Netflix was pretty positive: The company added 3 million new subscribers during the first quarter of this year. That brings the total number of paying users to nearly 30 million in the U.S., meaning it's now more popular than HBO, which has just under 29 million subscribers. Netflix said that it will continue to launch more new original series—my current TV addictions include Netflix's "House of Cards" with Kevin Spacey—and it will not renew its current deal with Viacom (MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon) when it expires in May in favor of licensing individual shows.
Curious about other streaming services? Check our streaming video and movie rental buying guide.
The other news is that there are still 8 million of us who still like to rent discs. (I still watch Blu-ray movies almost exclusively, due to the better picture and sound quality.) That's about 200,000 fewer discophiles than the last quarter, and almost 2 million fewer than a year ago.
If you're one of those oversharers who lets friends use your Netflix account, or someone who has enough family members (and Netflix-ready devices) to warrant the extra simultaneous streaming, let us know what you think of the new Family Plan. We'd also like to hear if you're watching any of Netflix's original series and want to see the company develop more content.
