The password-sharing crackdown continues! With Netflix having done a complete 180 on the subject, and Disney+ also changing its subscriber agreement to disallow sharing, its little duckling Hulu is now following suit. Our Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment attorney, Brandon Blake, shares the full details.
No More Account Sharing…
Now Disney has more or less taken full ownership of Hulu (a few price details notwithstanding), Hulu’s subscriber agreement has also been changed to disallow the sharing of passwords or accounts outside of a single household. Subscribers were notified of the change last week, and the change will become effective as of mid-March. It’s not the only part of Hulu’s terms and conditions to be reworked to better fit the Disney+ model, either.
…Unless You Pay, Maybe?
Unlike Netflix, which has completely shut down the shared account model, however, Disney seems prepared to cater to that audience, too. At a price, no doubt! As of last August’s earnings call, we heard the Disney CEO mention that they are ‘exploring’ ways to allow account sharing from paid subscribers. This solution, whatever it may be, was promised to roll out by mid-2024. However, little has been said about it since.
Ever since the now-notorious Netflix crackdown and its changed fortunes as 22 million new subscribers have been onboarded, we’ve seen an increased focus on similar strategies from competitors. Especially now most platforms are running a cheaper, ad-subsidized tier they can be encouraged toward.
So there’s little surprise that Disney would want to align Hulu with their wider brand strategy. What could be interesting, however, is if that promise to offer some means of account sharing comes to fruition later this year. This would be a reasonably unique offering in the streaming space, and could well cause some upset to those shiny new subscribers, too.
