Disney+ is planning to crack down on password sharing, copying Netflix‘s unpopular move earlier this year.
CEO Bob Iger revealed that Disney is “actively exploring ways to address account sharing” during the company’s third quarter earnings call on Wednesday. Noting that this issue is “a real priority” for Disney, Iger stated that these measures will likely include technical solutions alongside an update of Disney+’s terms and conditions.
“[We] actually think that there’s an opportunity here to help us grow our business,” said Iger, who claimed that a “significant” number of account holders share their passwords.
It isn’t clear exactly how much Iger believes Disney needs to grow, but the company is already a more than respectable size. The Walt Disney Company is currently valued at just under $160 billion, while its earnings call reported $22.3 billion in revenue. That’s a four percent revenue increase compared to the same time last year, and more than the entire GDP of Guinea.
The Disney+ password crackdown won’t commence until next year, and may not even be fully implemented before 2025. But it is coming, so maybe start bingeing your watchlist now.
This move follows Netflix’s account sharing crackdown in May, when the streaming service began charging an additional fee to share an account outside your household. The new policy was widely derided by users, however despite their grumbling it had the intended effect. Netflix saw a massive spike in subscriptions in the wake of its account sharing ban, with nearly 100,000 daily signups just days after the crackdown began.
If Netflix’s plan had been a failure, there’s a reasonable chance that Disney wouldn’t have followed suit. Unfortunately, its success just seems to have given other streaming services ideas.
