Disney Plus to follow Netflix in password sharing crackdown
DisneyDisney Plus will combat password sharing in 2024, CEO Bob Iger has announced, coming months after Netflix racked up millions of new subscribers with its crackdown.
In the early days of the streaming boom, Netflix tweeted: “Love is sharing a password.” For years, friends and families accessed the same account wherever they were in the world; students staying in dorms could log into their parents’ account, and people would pray their exes never changed the password.
However, amid strikes for fairer pay from streamers, they’ve been tackling password sharing head-on. Earlier this year, Netflix made it so passwords can only be shared with those who live in the same household. If you’re somewhere else – on holiday, in the office, at your partner’s home – you can still get in, but you’ll be required to verify your device, or add another paid login to your account.
People whined and threatened to cancel their accounts, but the platform amassed six million more subscribers as a result of the measures – so, Disney Plus is looking to take a similar approach.
Disney Plus cracking down on password sharing like Netflix
In a recent earnings call, Iger confirmed Disney is exploring ways to address password sharing, with plans to roll out its strategy in 2024.
He said (as per IGN): “We are actively exploring ways to address account sharing and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family.
“Later this year, we will begin to update our subscriber agreements with additional terms and our sharing policies. And we will roll out tactics to drive monetization sometime in 2024.”
Iger couldn’t confirm exactly how many subscribers are sharing passwords, but said it was a “significant” figure and that Disney has the “technical capability” to monitor sign-ins.
“While it is likely you’ll see some impact in calendar 24, it’s possible that… the work will not be completed within the calendar year. But we certainly have established this as a real priority, and we actually think that there’s an opportunity here to help us grow our business,” he added.
This also comes as Iger revealed notable improvements to the company’s losses in its direct-to-consumer business, cutting them to $512 million compared to $1.1 billion last year.
Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions are also getting more expensive, set to rise between $2-3 from October.
While we don’t know the specifics of Disney’s policy, you can read more about Netflix’s password sharing rules here to get a bit of an idea.