Do you share your Disney Plus password with your friends or family? Tough luck, Disney CEO Bob Iger is about to clamp down on U.S. subscribers who hand out their account details to others.
Earlier this year, Disney announced paid sharing and began the rollout to a select few countries in June. Now, the additional fee (price TBD) to add a person outside your home to your account is set to arrive in the U.S.
Disney’s CEO Bob Iger told shareholders on an earnings call on Wednesday (August 7) that paid sharing will arrive on U.S. soil starting in September. He said, “We’ve had no backlash at all to the [paid sharing] notifications that have gone out and to the work that we’ve already been doing,”
On top of the paid sharing costs to crack down on password sharing, The Verge reports that Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus will raise their subscription costs starting in October.
No more password sharing
Fans of Disney’s streaming service will need to reassess whether the cost increase and additional pricing for extra users is worth it. Netflix took a similar route last year, charging $7.99/month to add a user from outside your home.
While Apple TV Plus still allows family sharing and is yet to introduce an ad-supported cheaper tier like some of its streaming competitors, discussions with a UK advertising body earlier this month hint at a similar future. With all streaming services following a similar path, it might not be too long before we have to accept extra fees for password sharing and an increase of subscription services across the board to introduce ad-supported tiers at a lower cost.
The world of streaming is getting very expensive, but for now, you can still share your Disney Plus password with friends and family until the additional fee is introduced next month.
