Disney Plus goes Netflix way to stop password sharing

Disney Plus is following in the footsteps of rival streaming platform Netflix to begin cracking down on password-sharing this summer. The writing was on the wall when last year, Walt Disney’s chief executive officer Bob Iger hinted at curbs on the sharing of passwords of an account outside of a household. But a concrete confirmation came when Disney’s chief financial officer Hugh Johnston said Disney Plus accounts will be “suspended of improper sharing” during an earnings call on Wednesday. That is a clear indication that password-sharing between people not belonging to the same household will soon stop.

Those with a suspended account will see an option to sign up for a new account with a new subscription — something that Netflix began practising more than a year back to boost revenue and increase the subscriber base. Netflix’s strategy to boot freeloaders paid off, adding about 5.9 million subscribers in the April-June period last year. Much like Netflix, Disney Plus would urge users to pay directly to the company as part of their subscription, along with the option to continue sharing for an “additional fee,” which is unclear for now. Netflix requires an additional fee of $7.99 per month in the US.

“We want to reach as large an audience as possible with our outstanding content,” Johnston said. “We’re looking forward to rolling out this new functionality to improve the overall customer experience and grow our subscriber base.” As for the option to allow password-sharing but for an additional fee, Johnston sees it as “an opportunity.” He cited Netflix’s success while saying that “our competitor is obviously taking advantage of” the strategy.

The new development comes as Disney Plus’s India subsidiary, called Disney+ Hotstar, is on the cusp of a business merger. Reports are rife that one of India’s biggest conglomerates Reliance Industries is in talks with Disney India to merge its streaming and broadcast business with its own to form India’s biggest entertainment network. While JioCinema is likely to acquire the web content of Disney+ Hotstar, the Star channels will become a part of Viacom18.