16 Oct Federal Crackdown Begins on Streaming Services’ Cancellation Policies [The Hollywood Reporter]
BY WINSTON CHO
October 16, 2024 | It’s about to get easier to cancel your Netflix (or Hulu or Max or Disney+) subscription.
The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday finalized a “click to cancel” initiative requiring companies to make it as easy to cancel subscriptions and memberships as it is to sign up. Under the rule, businesses must provide consumers with simple cancellation mechanisms to immediately halt all recurring charges and get their consent to convert auto-renewals and free trials to paid enrollments, among other things. It’s intended to eliminate drawn-out cancellation processes aimed at trapping consumers in unwanted subscriptions.
The rule will take effect in 180 days as streaming services aim to slash customer churn rates, a term that refers to users who momentarily enroll in a service before canceling. Subscriber retention has emerged as a critical figure, with streaming businesses recently turning to pooling together services into bundles to reduce churn.
Read more on The Hollywood Reporter.