Bob Iger Ditches Disney’s Family-Friendly Image, Dooms Disney+

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Bob Iger with Disney+ in the background

Credit: Inside the Magic

Bob Iger might have a grand plan that no one knows about, but Disney+ isn’t doing great, and the latest update on the streaming platform is concerning.

Bob Iger speaking during a MasterClass session
Credit: MasterClass

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The streaming platform isn’t making Walt Disney Company the massive profit that some fans may have thought. With Star Wars and Marvel shows releasing on the streaming platform every couple of months, it felt like Disney was making something that was working because they kept announcing dozens of projects. Every year, the platform seems to be breaking some new record, and as the streaming services continue to gain dominance in the entertainment industry, it seemed like Disney was trying to make out on top.

Unfortunately, the streaming platform isn’t profitable. The shows are now too expensive, so Bob Iger announced that Star Wars and Marvel would have reduced content. Despite fans loving the amount of the content, Disney wasn’t interested in promising higher quality content even though Marvel’s formulaic structure was getting out of hand on Disney+ for fans.

Disney+ logo with Iron Man, Darth Vader, Elastigirl, Moana
Credit: Disney+

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It became painfully apparent that the Walt Disney Company wants to crank out content to make more money, and while the streaming platform might be hitting a rough patch, Disney’s new plan won’t solve the problem. It was announced earlier this week that the House of Mouse will be cracking down on password sharing and making it so that Disney+ must be watched under one household. Like Netflix, Disney wants to ensure that people aren’t sharing their accounts across several households to avoid paying the company more, but it will create a bigger problem for them.

The streaming services are just too expensive to have several of them. People aren’t happy with many of them raising their prices and adding more tiers with ads. If they want to get the best of both worlds, some families will split streaming services with other family members who live elsewhere, but that can’t happen. For the audience that has to travel or live away from their family, they are on their meaning college students can’t share their parent’s account. While this might not appear to be a huge problem for Disney+, it will create a few problems.

All of the different Disney+ titles surrounding the logo
Credit: Disney

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First, the streaming platform will hide the amount of consumers who drop the service once the password sharing starts. Unless it’s a must-watch show, some fans will have the platform for that duration and then cancel their subscription. Disney will then see the fans who left but rejoined and probably count them as a new “subscriber,” but if they are only showing up for a few weeks only to leave shortly after their series is over, is that subscriber growth?

If anything, the streaming platform hinges on more content to be released, but if the company releases less due to cutting costs, there could be gaps where people have no reason to subscribe. Disney is at a massive loss if that happens, and it’s their fault. If they continue to make subpar content, fans are less likely to renew their subscription to watch another MCU series that makes the same mistakes. Movies like The Little Mermaid (2023) and Pixar’s Elemental (2023) might get a lot of traction after ending up on the platform, but that’s because families waited to watch the movie. Disney+ could be the leader in streaming services due to the number of beloved IPs and Disney movies in their control, but quality isn’t something fans will give up when the prices are that high.

Do you think Disney+ will recover? What are your thoughts on the password-sharing update? Let Inside the Magic know what you think!

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