Disney+ Password Sharing Crackdown Starts ‘In Earnest’ Next Month
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Nearly a year ago, Disney announced it was following Netflix with its own password-sharing crackdown. The entertainment giant has since been proceeding at a relatively slow pace to fully lock things down, but CEO Bob Iger says that’s about to change.
Disney likely wanted to give its customers plenty of time to adapt to the changes, but it also had some technical challenges to sort out. Last fall, the password-sharing crackdown soft-launched in Canada , consisting of little more than polite reminders to its more benevolent customers that it’s considered bad manners to share Disney+ account passwords outside their own households.
However, that change also included updates to its Canadian terms of service updates to make the sharing rules clearer. Those changes came to the US service in early 2024, but like the rollout in the Great White North, they were similarly toothless at first, giving customers plenty of time to adjust their behavior and warning that the House of Mouse would soon get much more strict about password sharing.
Disney has continued to be a bit vague about how all this will work, which may be one reason it’s also been slow to lower the hammer on customers; it’s still figuring some of this stuff out for itself.
For example, even in April, when Iger told CNBC that it was about to launch its “first real foray into password sharing” in a few markets, he wasn’t forthcoming with too many details about how it would work. Iger and Disney CFO Hugh Johnston had mentioned that Netflix-style “extra member accounts” would be available for “account holders who want to allow further individuals to access their account from outside the household” but suggested those wouldn’t arrive “later this year” — after Disney had already encouraged “borrowers to start new [standalone] subscriptions.”
The Balloon Goes Up in September
In that spring interview, Iger told CNBC that a “full rollout” was coming in September. This would presumably include the US, although he wasn’t clear. However, the Disney CEO confirmed during this week’s earnings call that the crackdown is about to begin “in earnest.”
We started our password-sharing initiative in June. That kicks in, in earnest in September. By the way, we’ve had no backlash at all to the notifications that have gone out and to the work that we’ve already been doing. Disney CEO Bob Iger
Unfortunately, Iger still hasn’t told anyone how much it will cost to add extra members to a Disney+ subscription — nor even if those extra member accounts will be available at launch. From previous comments, there’s been a sense that Disney may want to see how many folks it can push into full standalone subscriptions first.
Password sharing is just starting to roll out. That’s also going to be helpful in terms of driving growth.Disney CFO Hugh Johnston
After all, the password-sharing crackdown paid off in spades for Netflix, with hundreds of thousands of new subscribers per day after it turned the key — and that was with extra member accounts available from the outset.
Disney may hope it can do even better if the only option is for customers to take up their own subscriptions. Still, it may also be overestimating the popularity of its services — especially in light of another round of price increases. Those won’t kick in until October, which could result in a surge of new signups and subsequent cancellations.
At the end of the day, extra member accounts aren’t all they’re cracked up to be anyway. The primary account holder still has to pay for the additional members, so while they’re a reasonable solution for close friends and extended family, such as kids away at college or elderly parents, there’s a limit to how nice somebody is willing to go for an acquaintance or co-worker. There’s a big difference between sharing your password for free and paying for someone else’s access.
