In November 2019, the Walt Disney Company got in on the streaming game and launched its very own streaming platform, Disney+. Disney+ was the ultimate place for Disney fans to find their favorite movies and television shows. In addition to a library full of classics like Sleeping Beauty, Disney also created a ton of original content for fans to enjoy. At first, there were only a few shows, like The Imagineering Story and Behind the Attraction. Now, Disney+ is full of hit original content like The Mandalorian, WandaVision, Loki, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and The Santa Clauses.
Since its inception, Disney+ has struggled to maintain subscribers while not going overboard on spending. Former CEO Bob Chapek said that Disney+ was set to be profitable by 2024, but there is now some doubt as to whether that is true. A lawsuit has even been filed against Chapek, former CFO Christine McCarthy, and Kareem Daniel. The lawsuit claims that Chapek, McCarthy, and Daniel misled investors about Disney+ subscribers and financial health.
Current CEO Bob Iger said that he is focused on creating new content that will be successful, while also balancing how much is spent on the content. Iger said that Disney+ and streaming are one of Disney’s three main priorities in growing the company.
In addition to changing up its content creation game, Iger also revealed that Disney was looking into a crackdown on password sharing on the streamer. During the third-quarter earnings call, Iger said that Disney was looking into ways that the company could monitor account sharing.
“We are actively exploring ways to address account sharing and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family. 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.
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. 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 did admit that the password crackdown may not be completed in 2024.
Disney’s decision to possibly limit password sharing for Disney+ subscribers follows in the footsteps of one of Disney’s biggest streaming competitors — Netflix. In late May, Netflix changed its password-sharing policy, charging subscribers more money if they wanted to add people to their plans. While there was initial backlash to the password-sharing limitations, Netflix subscriber numbers have remained steady, which could be a good indication of how Disney+ subscribers will react to password-sharing limitations.
