For many years, Disney and other streaming services turned a blind eye to account passwords being shared between family and friends. But after Netflix had so much success in cracking down on account sharing, adding millions of new subscribers, it didn’t take long for other streaming services to start doing the same.

Earlier this summer, Disney started to clamp down on Disney+ account sharing in many countries around the world. Redefining that a Disney+ subscription is limited to just a household.

As you might expect, many households haven’t been happy with the streaming services clamping down on account sharing, but from a business point of view, it looks to be working.

Hugh Johnston, Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, recently revealed, during a Q&A session at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference, some more details on how well the password crackdown is helping them.

So password sharing in particular is working out well for us in terms of subscriber growth, but that’s going to be a big driver.

When asked about how password sharing will result in some more momentum for growing subscribers, Hugh added:

Yes. You’ll get a little bit of it at the beginning and then each quarter should be incrementally stronger in terms of the benefit.

Roger’s Take:  Disney has to balance the benefits for its business versus annoying customers.  There’s been plenty of talk on social media and forums about people getting frustrated with having to contact Disney to unlock devices in their own homes.  I’m sure some of the issues are teething problems, which will get ironed out, but Disney does need to be careful. 

In the long run, as the account-sharing crackdown becomes standardised, it will no doubt increase subscriptions, especially to the ad-supported tier, as people look to take out the cheapest option.  While there are lots of people online talking about cancelling because they can’t share with friends and family, Disney knows eventually, most of those people will return, and their friends and family will, too.   Disney also has to be careful with how it communicates the benefits for them of the crackdown, if they boast too much about its success, it won’t go down well with customers.

What do you think of the account-sharing crackdown? Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

View all posts