Disney+ To Raise Prices On October 12, Will Start Password Sharing Crackdown In 2024

[RAMROD 105,947]

Disney is joining the streaming fight against password sharing.

CEO Bob Iger said on Wednesday's earnings call that the company is exploring account sharing for streaming and will provide additional details on its policy to curb it later this year.

The company will roll out tactics to mitigate password sharing in 2024. While Iger said Disney should see some effects from the rollout in 2024, the initiatives to prevent password sharing won't be completed next year.

The move comes as Disney and its peers have looked for ways to make streaming profitable — methods that have included cutting content spending, introducing cheaper, ad-supported options and preventing account sharing. Disney follows the lead of Netflix, which began rolling out a new account sharing policy earlier this year.

Iger said Wednesday the strategy is a "real priority" for the company.

Disney has three streaming services under its umbrella: the flagship Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. The three services are also available in a bundle for a cheaper price. The company has previously said it would soon be offering a "one app experience" in the U.S. that incorporates Hulu content into Disney+, although standalone options will still remain.

Streamers have also used price increases to grow revenue.

On Wednesday, Disney said starting October 12, it would raise prices on almost all of its streaming services. Ad-free Disney+ will cost $13.99 a month, a 27% bump. The price of Hulu without ads is increasing to $17.99 a month, a 20% hike. The ad-supported options of Hulu and Disney+ will see prices stay the same. It's the second price increase in less than a year for Disney+.

Iger says that Disney remains committed to streaming, describing it as a relatively "young business" that is nevertheless one of the company's core pillars going forward. 

Iger has said the company views advertising as a key way to reach profitability.

As the company eliminates password sharing, it does not know how the action will affect subscriber growth, Iger said.

"Obviously, we believe there will be some, but we're not speculating," he said, adding the change will be an opportunity to grow the business.

Netflix has been a pioneer among streaming services in cracking down on password sharing. It was one of the initiatives Netflix discussed after it began to see subscriber growth stagnate in 2022 and looked for methods to boost revenue. Netflix, like Disney+, added a cheaper, ad-supported tier.

In July, Netflix reported that it added 5.9 million customers during the second quarter as its password sharing crackdown began to take hold in the U.S.

Netflix had previously said that more than 100 million households, or about 43% of its global user base, shared accounts. The company said that affected its ability to invest in new content.

Netflix started to roll out account sharing initiatives internationally first. It notified its U.S. customers in May that they would have to stop sharing accounts.

Netflix subscribers sharing accounts they were given a few options. Members could either transfer a profile of someone outside of their household so the person could begin a new membership and pay on their own. Or, the main account holder could pay an extra fee of $7.99 a month per person outside of their household using their account.

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/08/09/disney-says-it-will-crack-down-on-password-sharing-following-netflixs-lead.html

https://www.ign.com/articles/disney-plus-and-hulu-password-sharing

[Plastic Flower 4,116]

Oh wow

[misha4ever 1,166]

[ALGAYDO 30,688]

They’re gonna lose so many people with this. 
 

I’ve been using my friend’s login for the past 3 years, it was good while it lasted lol 

[Reality 73,524]

26 minutes ago, ALGAYDO said:

They’re gonna lose so many people with this. 
 

I’ve been using my friend’s login for the past 3 years, it was good while it lasted lol 

Netflix did something similar with cracking down on password sharing and they ended up gaining a ton of new subscribers, which I thought was wild. So honestly, they probably won't lose many people.

[thefamebitch 826]

I just don’t think that Disney+ has the pull that Netflix did when they cracked down on their passwords 

[CoolTrainerTerry 1,323]

Disney, it's really hard to be a fan when you keep doing things like this. How did Iger coming back as CEO make things worse?!

[AnglerfishbraBENUS 5,685]

1 hour ago, Reality said:

Netflix did something similar with cracking down on password sharing and they ended up gaining a ton of new subscribers, which I thought was wild. So honestly, they probably won't lose many people.

well there isn’t a world where they would lose subscribers at all. just viewers. they really could only gain subscribers from this decision

[hELXIG 41,973]

It's official... I'm going back to pirating.

I don't want to support these scum

[bionic 45,195]

bionic will be cancelling  

[Bat 6,162]

I'm surprised not more people are going back to pirating series again instead of all these streaming providers.

[RAMROD 105,947]

Just now, Bat said:

I'm surprised not more people are going back to pirating series again instead of all these streaming providers.

The ease of streaming helps probably.
You don't have to wait for seeds or find real links with the show/movies you want instead of troll links or worse viruses anymore. 

[Fiendman 237]

Yeah, I don't use Disney+ nearly enough to justify an increase in price. Honestly, same with Netflix. I pay like €30+ per month for both of these services and don't use them nearly enough to justify that. I think this is the push I need to get back to sailing the high seas, as we did in the old days 🏴‍☠️