The Walt Disney Company is planning to crack down on password sharing, the company’s CEO said in an earnings call on Wednesday.
Bob Iger said on the company’s third-quarter earnings call that Disney plans to follow the lead of Netflix, which put restrictions on password sharing in May.
“We already have the technical capability to monitor much of this,” Iger said. “I’m not going to give a specific number, except to say that it is significant.
“We certainly have established this as a real priority, and we actually think that there’s an opportunity here to help us grow our business.”
Disney will begin its crackdown sometime in 2024, CNBC reported.
Disney says it will crack down on password sharing, following Netflix’s leadhttps://t.co/BEHhoVOmAa
— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) August 9, 2023
Netflix reported in July that it added 5.9 million customers during the second quarter as its password-sharing crackdown began to take effect in the U.S., CNBC reported. Netflix said that more than 100 million households, or about 43% of its global user base, shared accounts, according to the news outlet.
Since launching Disney+ in late 2019, Disney has lost more than $10 billion in its direct-to-consumer segment, which also includes Hulu and ESPN+, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Iger said Wednesday the crackdown strategy is a “real priority” for the company, according to CNBC.
Disney also announced that it will raise the price of the ad-free versions of Disney+ and Hulu by double digits, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Disney+ will cost $13.99 a month for its ad-free version, a 27% increase, according to CNBC. The price of Hulu without ads is increasing to $17.99 a month, a 20% bump, according to the news outlet. Prices for the ad-supported options of Hulu and Disney+ will not increase.
Disney also announced the launch of Duo Premium, a package that will bundle Disney+ and Hulu without ads for $19.99, The Wall Street Journal reported. Previously, had offered both streaming services as stand-alone products, or bundled each with ESPN+ for the same price, according to the newspaper.
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