Disney Plus' password-sharing crackdown begins in June

Disney CEO Bob Iger has confirmed that the company will start implementing new rules to prevent users from sharing their accounts with other people. Disney Plus' password-sharing crackdown will begin in June.

This is not a surprise move, the company has been planning this since last year. Disney Plus subscribers in Canada were the first to be impacted by the change, which was announced in November. Earlier in January this year, Disney Plus users in the U.S. were also informed about some changes to its terms of service. This included rules about not sharing log-in credentials with other users outside their households. While the change initially applied to new users, the rules came into effect in March for all users.

Disney Plus' password-sharing crackdown will start in June

The Verge reports that Hugh Johnston, Disney’s chief financial officer, had revealed during an earnings call in February that users who were sharing an account would be asked to sign up for their own subscription. He had also mentioned that subscribers would have an option to add other members for an additional fee.

And now, more information has surfaced about Disney Plus' password-sharing restrictions. Iger told CNBC in an interview that the initial password-sharing crackdown would begin in June 2024. It is expected to grow significantly before the full rollout for all users, which is targeted for September.

Disney Plus Plans

Let's take a look at Disney's streaming plans. Disney Plus has two primary plans. The cheapest one is called Disney+ Basic, it is an ad-supported subscription that costs $7.99 per month. The other plan, Disney+ Premium costs $13.99/month, and offers an ad-free experience, along with unlimited downloads on up to 10 devices.

Disney recently started offering Hulu in its Bundle Plans to attract more users to the service. The Disney Bundle Duo Basic plan with ads is available for $9.99 per month, while the ad-free Disney Bundle Duo Premium costs $19.99/month. Sports fans have another option, which is the Disney Bundle Trio Basic bundle that costs $14.99/month, and includes ESPN+ along with Disney+ and Hulu, with advertisements. Users will need to shell out $24.99/month to get rid of ads in the Disney Bundle Trio Premium bundle.

Streaming services have become costlier over the past year or so, with multiple price hikes. The emergence of ads in services is also quite problematic. Netflix was the first streaming service to crackdown on password sharing among its users. While the move was expected by analysts to backfire, to everyone's surprise it proved to be remarkably successful. As of January 2024, Netflix's ad-supported plan has amassed over 23 Million Monthly Users. Is it really surprising that Disney wants a taste of that success? It's not good for consumer's wallets, but was probably an inevitable change from a business' perspective. Iger acknowledged that Netflix was the gold standard in streaming, and that Disney's position of No.2 was not really a problem.

I think it is safe to expect Disney to offer an extra member fee similar to what Netflix does, which costs $7.99 per month for the Standard and Premium plans, while keeping the Disney+ Basic plan's price the same to ask users to sign up for their own account.

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