Disney Plus to follow Netflix model for password sharing crackdown

It’s been a rough day of news for Disney Plus fans. Along with a price increase announced today, a crackdown on password sharing is also in the post.

The entertainment giant is combatting heavy subscriber losses with 11.7 million people leaving over the last three months.

Along with the introduction of an ad-supported tier and a £3 price increase to retain the same level of service for existing customers, Disney wants to make sure no-one is accessing the service on someone else’s account.

In other words, it is taking the Netflix approach to ensure no-one’s watching Pixel movies with their families when someone in another household and they’re paying the bill.

In the earnings call announcing the losses, the embattled CEO Bob Iger – who pretty much every actor in Hollywood can’t stand right now amid his stance over the actors’ strike – said the company will begin stamping out password sharing in 2024.

Judging by Iger’s comments, Disney is going to mirror Netflix’s approach by adding an extra members for an extra fee. Until now, like most streaming services trying to get off the ground, had had a pretty liberal attitude towards password sharing.

However those halcyon days of streaming seem to be over.

“We are actively exploring ways to address account sharing and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family,” Iger said during the earnings call.

“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.”