A few months back, promised to further , or the practice of multiple households using the same account for a streaming service. That’s set to come into effect in the very near future for many more users, meaning that account sharers will have to pay extra or have separate subscriptions to keep using the service. Disney started targeting account sharing and in June . It’s about to expand those efforts in the coming weeks.
Referring to the streaming division, “we need to basically make it a higher return, a higher margin business and a more successful business,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said on an with investors on Tuesday. “And we’re doing that right now. We started our password sharing initiative in June. That kicks in, in earnest in September. By the way, we’ve had no backlash at all to the notifications that have gone out and to the work that we’ve already been doing.”
It’s unclear how much Disney will charge US customers to share their account with someone located outside of the primary household. Netflix charges an per additional household, and .
It’s also worth noting that the expanded password-sharing crackdown is scheduled just before Disney . Most Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ plans are going up by $1 or $2 per month in October. The ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu bundle is going up from $10 to $11 per month as well.
Iger added that along with bolstering the programming slate, Disney+ needs “stronger recommendation engines” — something that’s being worked on — and more efficient marketing to keep viewers engaged and paying for the service every month or year. To help with that, the company will soon start rolling out what it’s calling “continuous playlists.” These are effectively that will stream around the clock. The first batch includes ABC News Live and a playlist of TV shows and shorts for pre-schoolers.
Meanwhile, Disney revealed that its streaming business is now profitable. Disney+ alone for the first time in the January-March period, while the entire direct-to-consumer (DTC) business was $47 million in the black last quarter. That’s a stark turnaround from the $512 million loss Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ collectively posted a year earlier. Disney said the business became profitable one quarter earlier than expected.
The company is also planning to roll out a fully next year. Venu, a joint sports streaming venture from ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, is slated to , but that service is facing an antitrust backlash from rivals and .
