Disney+ Announces Password-Sharing Crackdown

Disney+ seems to be taking a cue from Netflix, as the days of sharing your Disney+ account may soon to coming to an end. Just months after Netflix introduced anti-password sharing measures, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced last week that the company will begin to crack down on password sharing on Disney+ next year.

Iger announced the move during the company's earnings call last Wednesay, revealing that Disney is currently "actively exploring ways to address account sharing and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family." Iger added, per ComicBook.com, Disney "will begin to update our subscriber agreements with additional terms and our sharing policies" later this year and will also "roll out tactics to drive monetization" in 2024. When asked how widespread of an issue password sharing is, Iger declined to provide an exact number, instead simply stating that it is "significant," according to The Verge. He also said the company already has "the technical capability to monitor much of this."

"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," Iger said. "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."

This is not the first time password sharing has been brought up in relation to Disney+. Shortly following the streamer's launch in 2019, Michael Paull, then-president of Disney Streaming Services, said "password sharing is definitely something we think about," expressing hope that consumers would recognize just how much they're getting for the subscription price and would use the service within reason. He said, "They're going to use those accounts for their family, for their household. That being said, we do recognize password sharing exists and will continue to exist." He added that Disney had "created some technology that's in the backend that we will use to understand behavior. And when we see behavior that doesn't make sense, we have mechanisms that we've put in place that will deal with it."

News of a possible password-sharing crackdown came alongside news of a hefty price hike later this year that will affect not only Disney+, but also Hulu and ESPN+. Under the price hike, Disney+ Premium (with no ads) will jump from $10.99 to $13.99 per month and Hulu without ads will increase from $14.99 to $17.99 per month. Hulu's two Hulu + Live TV packages will each go up by $7, and ESPN+ will increase from $9.99 to $10.99 per month. The price hikes will go into effect on Oct. 12.