Hulu nixing password sharing, may charge for privilege

Password sharing is becoming a thing of the past. The US streaming service Hulu is the latest reveal it is clamping down on users who are sharing the service with those outside of the household.

After its stablemate Disney+ followed Netflix’s lead, Hulu – which airs hit shows like Only Murders In The Building and The Handmaid’s Tale – also says password sharers must get their house in order by March 14 this year.

An updated subscriber agreement suggests new tiers are coming soon to accommodate those who do with to share the password with others.

Netflix has done the same with its Extra Member add-on, which gives users the chance to set up an extra profile on their account for a user outside the household. That costs £4.99/$7.99/€5.99.

What Hulu could ask as a fee for the extra members remains to be seen, but judging by the text changes within the agreement, it’s likely that some sort of fee is about to come into play.

“Unless otherwise permitted by your Service Tier, you may not share your subscription outside of your household. “Household” means the collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the individuals who reside therein,” Hulu says (via The Verge).

The move upset some Netflix subscribers, but after some initial trepidation, it hasn’t pushed people to leave in droves. Quite the opposite, in fact. Netflix is on the upswing once again.

Disney revealed last year that it plans to update its terms to crack down on password sharing and its subscriber agreement mirrors the one on Hulu’s website right now.

“We are actively exploring ways to address account sharing and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said during an earnings last summer.

“Later this year, we will begin to update our subscriber agreements with additional terms and our sharing policies. And we will roll out tactics to drive monetisation sometime in 2024.”