A few months ago, promised to continue or the experience of several households using the same account for the streaming service. This will go into effect for many more in the very near future users, i.e. account sharers, will have to pay extra or have a separate subscription to continue using the service. Disney has begun targeting account sharing and in June . It is about to expand these efforts in the coming weeks.
Referring to the streaming division, “we basically have to turn it into a higher-revenue, higher-margin business and a more successful business,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said. with investors on Tuesday. “And that’s what we’re doing right now. We started our password sharing initiative in June. It’s going live in September. By the way, we haven’t had any reaction to the notices and the notices that we’re already doing.”
It’s unclear how much Disney will charge US customers to share their account with someone outside their primary household. Netflix is paying due to additional household and .
It’s also worth noting that the expanded password sharing operation was planned just before Disney . Most Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ plans are going up $1 or $2 a month in October. The ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu bundle is also going up from $10 to $11 a month.
Iger added that in addition to beefing up its programming slate, Disney+ needs “stronger recommendation engines” — something it’s working on — and more effective marketing to keep viewers engaged and paying for the service each month or year. To help with that, the company will soon start rolling out what it calls “persistent playlists.” These are effective that will flow day and night. The first batch includes playlists of ABC News Live and preschool TV shows and shorts.
Meanwhile, Disney announced that its streaming business is now profitable. Disney+ alone For the first time in the January-March period, the entire direct-to-consumer (DTC) business was $47 million in the black last quarter. That’s a sharp turnaround from a combined $512 million loss for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ a year ago. Disney said the business turned a profit a quarter faster than expected.
The company also plans to launch the full next year. ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Venu, a sports broadcasting joint venture from Discovery, however, this service is facing an antitrust backlash competitors and .
