Disney is about to launch its own campaign against password sharing on Disney+, according to Bob Iger, CEO of the company. Iger considers this measure “necessary and very, very productive” in competition with Netflix, the leader in the streaming industry. The campaign will be launched in “very select markets” starting in June.
During a teleconference on quarterly results, which was reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Iger praised Netflix as the “gold standard” in streaming and acknowledged that their advantage lies in streaming technology. However, he stated that Disney’s content compares well to Netflix’s and they are working to match their technology.
The full deployment of the campaign against password sharing will take place in September, with a similar deployment scheduled for Hulu later on. Iger expressed optimism about this initiative and mentioned that they are encouraged by the good results that Netflix has obtained with its program against password sharing (the platform offers an “extra subscriber pass” for €5.99 per month for users who live outside the household).
And it is that Netflix’s “shared payment” model has generated a significant flow of income for the company, although Disney has an advantage in advertising technology and sales force since Netflix still relies on Microsoft for its television advertising business. Although the exact conditions of Disney’s program are not known, the July to September quarter is critical, as Iger has promised that Disney+ will have benefits for that period.
With this controversial initiative, Disney would be taking steps to directly compete with Netflix in the streaming market. Disney hopes that the campaign against password sharing will contribute to the future success of Disney+ despite its likely unpopularity among users.
