Disney+ will begin cracking down on password-sharing in 2024 in an effort to drive monetization, Disney CEO Bob Iger said on the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday.
“We are actively exploring ways to address account sharing and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family,” he said. “Later this year, we will begin to update our subscriber agreements with additional terms and our sharing policies. And we will roll out tactics to drive monetization sometime in 2024.”
The move comes after Netflix’s password-sharing cracking resulted in a surge in paid subscribers this year.
“We already have the technical capability to monitor much of this, and I’m not gonna give you a specific number except to say it’s significant,” Iger said in response to a question from an analyst, while noting it’s possible that the password-sharing crackdown won’t be completed in 2024. “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.”
Iger counted Disney+ as one of Disney’s three main priorities that will drive the company’s growth.
“Moving forward, I believe three businesses will drive the greatest growth and value creation over the next five years,” he said. “They are our film studios, our parks business, and streaming, all of which are inextricably linked to our brands and franchises.”
Disney+ lost 300,000 subscribers in the U.S. and Canada during the quarter for a total of 46 million globally, but domestic Disney+ average monthly revenue per paid subscriber increased from $7.14 to $7.31 due to higher per-subscriber advertising revenue.
Disney+ announced an ad-supported offering will be available in select markets across Europe and in Canada beginning Nov. 1. As pricing is updated for various plans later this year, subscribers in the U.S. will have access to a new ad-free bundled subscription plan starting Sept. 6, featuring Disney+ Premium and Hulu (No Ads) for $19.99/month.
