Crackdown on Password Sharing and Price Hikes: The New Norm in Streaming
Brook.X
Yesterday, The Walt Disney Company announced price increases across its streaming platforms, including Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, set to take effect in October. Concurrently, Disney is taking a firm stance against password sharing, starting September.
During its latest earnings call, Disney made it clear that it aims to aggressively combat password sharing on Disney+ starting in September, hoping to curb the practice and foster growth for the platform.
Password sharing refers to the act of paying subscribers sharing their login credentials with friends and family, allowing multiple people to access content with just one paid subscription. This practice results in revenue loss for streaming services.
Thus, platforms like Tencent Video, iQIYI, and Netflix have been cracking down on password sharing. While they initially turned a blind eye to attract new users and cultivate habits, the focus has shifted towards revenue generation, compelling users to purchase individual memberships.
Platforms, including iQIYI, have even gone as far as to limit casting capabilities or the resolution of cast content, all in an effort to encourage users to spend more on pricier memberships or subscribe to different types of memberships (e.g., TV memberships).
Disney is adopting a similar approach, inspired by the success of platforms like Netflix in forcing more users to sign up for their own memberships. Disney admires the achievements of these platforms and aims to replicate their success.
To this end, Disney will be implementing various technological measures to detect account logins through shared passwords, potentially introducing additional verification steps or blocking logins altogether.
Of course, users have their own reasons for this kind of freeloading behavior. The subscription fees of these platforms increase once a year or even multiple times a year. Take Disney+ as an example. The initial subscription membership was only US$6.99, and now the cheapest subscription version with ads will soon increase to US$9.99. If you don’t want to watch ads, you have to activate Disney+ Premium for US$15.99/month.
