Disney+ Announced Major Changes Coming Very Soon

In today’s earnings call for The Walt Disney Company, a major announcement was made in regards to Disney’s streaming platform, Disney+.

The platform has been controversial for a few months now as a variety of original streaming content has been consistently removed due to “poor performance.” It’s also been in the spotlight since May when the writers and actors Hollywood strikes called out streaming companies like Disney+, Netflix, and Hulu for not paying their creatives. In the midst of all this, Netflix announced it was officially, finally cracking down on password sharing and ad-based subscription tiers. Now, it seems as though The Walt Disney Company is following suit.

Looking to the next fiscal year, Disney+ will be taking a page from Netflix’s book and will start looking at ways to monetize password sharing, including cracking down on the amount of account sharing, which is currently a “significant” amount. According to Disney CEO Bob Iger, Disney+ and streaming for The Walt Disney Company in general is a relatively new area of business for the company and up until now, they haven’t been able to understand how to best price their subscription tiers in an effort to “make the business profitable” and make it a “growth business.”

According to the call, Disney is already tracking accounts that share passwords across multiple devices and IP addresses and is working on ways to combat it. This will also help drive revenue for the company by increasing the amount of paying subscribers across the board. When asked how they think it would affect numbers, Iger mentioned that after a price increase at the end of 2022, subscription numbers actually went up, proving that it didn’t deter audiences.

This will continue to be a priority for the streaming service as it was also announced that subscription prices will be increased starting September 6, with an ad-free option available starting at $13.99 a month, a considerable 27% increase from its current price point. For viewers not wanting to pay the extra cost, an ad-based tier will still be available at $7.99 a month. Disney+ saw a significant amount of new accounts already signing up under the ad-based option, reassuring the company that even if they increase prices and crack down on accounts, viewers will still continue to sign up.

Unfortunately, it means that the current issues of price, ads, and content removal will only continue as Disney strives to make Disney+ profitable for them. Unfortunately, whereas streaming was once the alternative option to cable prices and commercials, it seems as though it has turned into its own version of cable. While it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon, audiences can expect that the business will continue to shift as more networks work to understand how to make it profitable and a growing business.

What do you think about the upcoming Disney+ crackdown? Share your thoughts in the comments below!