Following in the footsteps of Netflix, Disney has begun its previously announced plans for a password sharing crackdown in the U.S.
Research from earlier this year found at more than half of Americans were sharing passwords for streaming services. Netflix's password sharing crackdown, however, has been deemed a success in that it increased paid subscribers.
This week Disney began informing subscribers that “Disney+ expanded its paid sharing program to give its users ways to enjoy their Disney+ subscription along with a family member or friend, through the management of devices within a household. These features and capabilities are now available in the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region after launching in select markets over the summer.”
Under the new plans, Disney said that people outside of the subscriber’s household, will need to sign up and pay for their own subscription or be added as an Extra Member to your account for an additional monthly fee to continue enjoying Disney+.
Account holders who want to add someone outside of their Household to their Disney+ subscription will be able to do so with the Extra Member add-on.
In the U.S., an Extra Member profile will cost an additional $6.99 per month for Disney+ Basic subscriptions and $9.99 per month for Disney+ Premium subscriptions.
However, only one Extra Member slot is available per account and the Extra Member offering is not available for Disney Bundle subscribers or for subscribers billed through partners at this time, Disney said.
As an alternative to Extra Member, people outside a household can sign up for their own subscription to watch Disney+ and the account holder can transfer an eligible profile to a new subscription or Extra Member to keep that profile’s Disney+ watch history and settings, Disney said.
Disney also assured subscribers that they could continue to watch content outside the home, but the ability to do so may require additional authentication.
More information is available here.
