Disney+ has started its crackdown on password sharing with a recent notification sent to its Canadian subscribers.
The Details
Canadian Disney+ subscribers have been receiving a notice that says as of November 1, “Unless otherwise permitted by your service tier, you may not share your subscription outside of your household.”
The notification goes on to say that if the subscriber violates those terms, the company may “limit or terminate access to the service and/or take any other steps as permitted by this agreement.”
The new account-sharing terms, however, also stipulate password sharing will be barred, “unless otherwise permitted by your Service Tier.”
This indicates password sharing may be allowed in some cases, and that subscribers may have the option in the future to pay for additional viewers for an account beyond the designated household. This detail hasn’t been made clear yet.
Disney CEO Bob Iger said in an August earnings call that the company would begin restricting account sharing as it hiked prices for its ad-free tiers of Disney+ and Hulu.
“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 on our sharing policies, and we will roll out tactics to drive monetization sometime in 2024.”
While no time frame was given at the time, it appears Disney+ has begun updating its subscriber agreements to clarify the rules relating to the sharing of accounts in several markets, starting with Canada, with the U.S. and other markets likely to follow before the end of this year.
Rate Hikes
Starting this month, Disney is raising prices for the standalone premium tiers of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ in the U.S.
Effective Oct. 1, Disney+ Premium (with no ads) increases to $13.99/month, up $3; Hulu without ads will also increase by $3 to $17.99/month; and ESPN+ will increase by one dollar, to $10.99/month.
Also beginning Nov. 1, the company is set to launch the Disney+ ad-supported plan in Canada (priced at $7.99/month) as well as the U.K. and eight European countries.
