The days of sharing streaming service passwords are coming to an end. Following Netflix’s recent rollout of password-sharing restrictions, concern recently grew that YouTube TV was preparing to follow suit, with some subscribers even reporting that YouTube was already rolling out a password-sharing crackdown, but it seems subscribers may be safe, at least for the time being.
Worry that password-sharing limitations were coming to YouTube TV was first sparked last month, around the same time Netflix began its crackdown, when some subscribers began reporting that people outside of their households who used their accounts began receiving error messages on YouTube TV. According to Cord Cutters News, the message told those users “that they need to buy their own YouTube TV subscription or return to their home location to continue using YouTube TV.” The reports eventually prompted a response from YouTube TV, the service confirming that it is not currently looking to aggressively enforce its password and account-sharing rules.
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The response came on Reddit after a user took to the platform to share that they were “trying to watch TV, the account that subscribes to YouTube tv is fine, but all other accounts in the family are being asked to sign up.” Responding to the post, in which others expressed they were encountering the same issue, YouTube account wrote, “just wanted to give an update – engineering is aware of this & is currently looking into how to fix it.” The account advised users to “remove the family member & re-add them then they should be able to login again.”
YouTube TV does technically have password-sharing limitations. Currently, subscribers can create a family group, which allows them to share YouTube TV with up to five people, but those people must “live in the same household as the family manager.” That rule, however, doesn’t seem to be very strictly enforced. YouTube TV also has a 90-day window for using YouTube TV outside of your primary location.
While strict password-sharing limitations don’t currently seem to be in the book for YouTube TV, the possibility doesn’t seem entirely implausible. More streaming services have begun to implement such limitations, and despite the controversy, Netflix’s recent rollout has resulted in a jump in sign-ups, with analytics firm Antenna reporting, per Deadline, that Netflix saw nearly 100,000 daily sign-ups on both May 26 and May 27.
