Shared your Disney Plus password? You might pay more after crackdown
Disney Plus to follow Netflix and make extra users of accounts pay more
After hinting that a password sharing crackdown was coming, Disney Plus looks to be acting on this by introducing paid sharing.
That is where you pay extra for someone that's using your Disney Plus subscription outside of your household.
This follows the lead of Netflix, which introduced similar measures when it cracked down on password sharing in May 2023.
Disney Plus updated its subscriber agreement last month to say "you may not share your subscription outside of your household".
Now it's clear this change was to pave the way for the introduction of paid sharing.
"We have made some changes to the user language that we have in the US, Canada and certain markets so that we'll have the opportunity to act on paid sharing opportunity," said Disney Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston at Disney's first quarter 2024 financial results earnings call.
When will Disney Plus introduce paid sharing in Australia?
At the Disney Plus earnings call, the US summer was specifically mentioned.
"Beginning this summer, Disney Plus accounts suspected of improper sharing will be presented with new capabilities to allow their borrowers to start their own subscriptions," Johnston said.
"Later this calendar year, account holders who want to allow access to individuals from outside their household will be able to add them to their accounts for an additional fee."
It wasn't specified if this was in North America only or globally.
But if it is to start rolling out in Australia in the timeframe mentioned, we would expect paid sharing on the streaming service by the end of 2024.
The move will likely affect a lot of Australians, as according to Finder's Consumer Sentiment Tracker data, 41% admitted they share a password for a streaming service with a friend or family member living in another residence.
Of those people, Disney Plus was the second-most popular streaming service that had its password shared around.
At the time of the earnings call, no details were given on how much this additional fee might be, nor how many people from outside a household can access a Disney Plus account.
This comes after the streaming service is also changing its plans in Australia.
Users will have to pay more to continue using Disney Plus in the same way they have been from 5 March 2024.
It's bad news too if you're sponging off a friend and need to get an account.
Disney Plus doesn't offer a free trial, so you have to sign up for your own account and pay from the start.
If you need help deciding what's worth watching, see our picks for the best TV series on Disney Plus.