Disney+ accounts suspected of improper sharing will from the summer be given the option to start their own subscriptions.
“Account holders who want to allow access to individuals from outside their household will be able to add them to their accounts for an additional fee,” explained newly installed Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston during a financial call Wednesday. “… we want to reach as large an audience as possible with our outstanding content. And we’re looking forward to rolling out this new functionality to improve the overall customer experience and grow our subscriber base.”
The move is similar to that undertaken by Netflix, which has seen a significant uptick in subscribers since it brought in measures against borrowers in May 2023. Johnston said he did not anticipate any benefits on the measures to Disney+ until the back half of 2023.
Disney+ lost 1.3m subscribers in the last quarter of 2023. The projected loss follows price increases in both its domestic and international markets.
However, there was strong growth from the streamers ad tier, and in the United States where the ad tier is being made available to Charter’s Spectrum TV Select subs.
The ad-supported Disney+ expanded outside of the United States with launches in EMEA and Canada, and grew to over 1,000 global advertisers hours in the first quarter.
The House of Mouse is forecasting net adds of between 5.5 million and 6 million in the second quarter. Domestic net adds are expected to be in the 7.5 million range, driven by charter entitlements, and taking some cannibalisation from the Charter arrangement.
International subs are expecting a modest increase amid churn caused by recent price increases.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Disney, which runs ESPN, had reached an understanding with FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery to form a new Joint Venture that would run the streamer that’s scheduled to launch this autumn.
