ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- You can't get something for nothing all of the time.
Or can you?
Seems like we have been for some time. And when it comes to some of our favorite news, information and entertainment websites and services, that's ending.
Online sites, think news organizations, that early on were free have created paywalls in recent years and now streaming services, namely Netflix, are planning on cracking down on the popular practice of password sharing.
On this edition of To The Point Already, Bay News 9 anchors Rick Elmhorst and Roy De Jesus talk online content and sharing passwords with a media professional and some Bay area consumers.
During the early days of the internet, the idea was to just get the content out there. That obviously is no longer the case.
"There was a period through the 2000s where the idea was news should be free (online)," said Rick Edmonds, a Media Business Analyst with the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg. "The idea was if you got enough customers and eyeballs, you could still sell advertising successfully.
"As it turned out, Google and Facebook became potent competitors and with more and more people getting the content, you really had to charge for that."
But the question over the years as more content became available was how much would people pay.
Netflix got an answer earlier this year when 200,000 subscribers dropped their subscriptions as prices rose.
Now, the streaming giant is taking action.
Netflix estimates that about 100 million households worldwide -- or roughly one out of every three households using its service -- are streaming for free. "We've just got to get paid at some degree for them," co-CEO Reed Hastings said in April.
Netflix has been experimenting in Latin America with programs where a subscriber can create a sub-account for those outside of their immediate household for an additional $3 a month.
The practice could expand in the coming years.
For years, amid rapid global growth, Netflix has looked the other way at the not-so-secret practice of subscribers sharing passwords beyond their households.
Roughly two in five online adults have shared passwords to online accounts with friends or family members, according to the Pew Center for Internet and Technology. Among millennials it's even higher: 56% of online adults ages 18- to 29 have shared passwords.
And for Bay area resident Isaiah Chavez, who said he has shared and benefited from shared passwords, he'll just go without the service rather than pay extra to share passwords.
"I'm a cheapo," he said. "I'll just keep it free."
ABOUT THE SHOW
Spectrum Bay News 9 anchor Rick Elmhorst sits down with the people that represent you, the people fighting for change and the people with fascinating stories to ask the hard questions.
Catch up on our latest To The Point Already podcast episodes.