Disney plans to crack down on password sharing from September, restricting users from sharing their accounts with those outside their household.
Disney CEO Bob Iger announced the company’s intent during an earnings call, reported by The Verge, stating that the enforcement will begin “in earnest” from next month. The company had reportedly been discussing this move since last September.
Earlier this year, Disney began notifying users about its paid sharing plans, which rolled out across a few countries in June. However, beginning from September, password sharing will not be tolerated in other countries either.
Disney will be following a path similar to Netflix’s anti-password initiative, where the streaming giant charges its users $7.99 (approximately 670) per month for an additional member to share the subscription. However, the details of these costs and plans remain unknown for Disney.
In addition to this, Disney plans to increase its streaming prices yet again. Most Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ plans are going up by $1 or $2 per month in October. The ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu bundle appears to be rising from $10 to $11 per month as well.
Bob Iger was reportedly “not concerned” about posing subscribers and expressed confidence that the increase in prices and tighter restrictions on password sharing will be justified by adding “pricing leverage” in the form of new content to the channels, such as ABC News Live and other curated playlists.
