Disney+ is starting its crackdown on account sharing: fees are now due for additional members outside the household. The streaming service is following Netflix’s example and is aiming to increase sales, as the prices are now known.
Disney+ is tightening the rules for sharing an account: From now on, users who want to share their access with people outside their household will have to pay for it. The streaming service is introducing the “additional member” option, which allows subscribers to add another user to their account for a monthly fee.
This is according to a current Blog post of the company. In the USA, an additional member costs between 6.99 and 9.99 dollars (about 6.25 to 8.93 euros) per month, depending on the subscription model. In Europe, including Germany, the price is 5 euros for the ad-financed subscription and 6 euros for the ad-free version. This pricing is based on the model of Netflix, which introduced similar measures last year.
The new option comes with some limitations:
In this respect, Disney is more restrictive than Netflix, where higher subscription levels allow up to two additional members. Despite these restrictions, additional members on Disney+ have access to the entire catalog in the quality offered by the main subscription. This, in turn, represents an advantage over Netflix, where additional members cannot see the full catalog of content.
Disney+, like Netflix, plans to analyze IP addresses to identify users who stream exclusively outside the main household. However, there is a solution for subscribers who travel: they can mark themselves as “away from home” or update their main location to continue to have access. The introduction of these measures is part of a broader strategy by Disney to increase the profitability of its streaming service.
Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, had already announced that the company would start charging users for sharing passwords this month. Disney is thus following a trend in the streaming industry. Netflix has already achieved positive results with similar measures and was able to increase its subscriber numbers and revenue. Warner Bros Discovery also plans to introduce a similar program for its Max service later this year.
Alexia is the author at Research Snipers covering all technology news including Google, Apple, Android, Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung News, and More.
