Disney+ subscribers who share their passwords with other people to avoid them having to buy their own subscription could be in for a shock starting in June. Disney CEO Bob Iger has confirmed that the streamer will seek to achieve growth by forcing households who use shared passwords and accounts to start paying up.
Currently, anyone who has a Disney+ account can share their username and password with anyone and have them stream content for free. The streamer offers profiles that allow people to keep their watch history and progress separate, but following a similar move by Netflix, it will soon prevent customers from sharing their passwords in an attempt to increase income.
In an interview with CNBC, Iger said that it will launch its assault on password sharing in a few countries and a few markets initially in June, but that a more full rollout will begin in September. It hasn't yet been confirmed which countries will be the first on the chopping block, nor exactly when people will have to start paying to watch content, but it's clear that the world of streaming is changing/
Netflix already made a similar change after spending years allowing people to share a single account. The move took place last year with Netflix having said that it then saw strong subscriber growth - the company gained almost nine million new subscribers in the third quarter of 2023 following the password crackdown.
Disney+ will no doubt hope for a similar boost. The company currently offers an ad-based subscription for $7.99 per month while the ad-free tier costs $10.99.
