Disney+ rolls out ‘paid sharing’ password crackdown in most markets
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Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) has launched its password crackdown on the Disney+ streaming service, following in the footsteps of a successful “paid sharing” initiative at rival Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX).
Disney+ has rolled out the feature in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Asia-Pacific region after testing it in a few regions over the summer.
The move looks to draw a revenue stream from those who are essentially “freeloading” on the streaming system by using other paid users’ credentials. When Netflix (NFLX) launched its paid sharing initiative/crackdown, it said it estimated some 100M users were watching as unpaid users on the passwords of others.
Netflix (NFLX) added more than 20M subscribers to its rolls in the aftermath of launching paid sharing as a feature — and analysts expect Disney to similarly benefit with new subs.
Disney (DIS) says “Your Disney+ subscription is meant to be used within your Household,” and adds that people outside the household need to sign up for their own subscription, or be added as an extra member at an added fee (in the U.S., $6.99 per month for Disney+ Basic and $9.99 per month for Disney+ Premium). A common example is students away at college.
As Netflix did, Disney is making it easy for transferring existing profiles to a new subscription, and it’s issuing warnings (“This TV doesn’t seem to be part of the Household for this account”) on suspect devices, calling for an email passcode permission.