Disney, Netflix Register Opposition to Proposed FTC Rule that Would Make Canceling a Streaming Service Easier
The Federal Trade Commission wants to make it easier for you to cancel a streaming subscription. The FTC first proposed a new regulation on streamers in March, which would force them to make it as easy for customers to cancel a streaming subscription as it is for them to sign up for it. The policy would cover digital subscriptions like streaming, as well as physical ones like a gym membership.
But Netflix, Disney+, and other streaming platforms are taking full advantage of their right to make comments on the proposal before it is voted on. The Internet & Television Association, which lobbies on behalf of entertainment conglomerates like Disney, Paramount Global, and Warner Bros. Discovery, says the rule is too vague as proposed, and could even infringe on its members’ right to free speech.
The biggest reason that streamers are pushing back against the rule is that cancelation rates are fairly high as it is in the streaming world. A survey from earlier this week suggested that 22% of Americans had canceled a streaming service in the past three months. Data from Hub released on Monday showed that 55% of customers with four streaming services had canceled at least one in the past six months.
The bad news for streaming providers when making this argument is that while cancelations have increased, so have subscriptions. Data from Antenna released in March shows that premium streaming subscriptions across the market increased 14.1% in 2022 over the previous year’s numbers. Users may be canceling services at a high rate, but they’re usually cycling to another streaming service instead of leaving the streaming ecosystem altogether.
Streamers are certainly having a harder time making the case to customers that they should stick around, but it’s not the FTC’s responsibility to fix that for them. Streamers are so focused on how to make their businesses profitable currently that they have little time to pay attention to anything else; that’s why Paramount Global has removed several titles from Paramount+ in recent weeks, and why Disney has done likewise with its streamers Disney+ and Hulu.
These companies are already lobbying against tighter streaming regulations in Canada and the United Kingdom. Now, they have an opponent right here at home. The FTC is still processing public comments received about its new proposal, and a final ruling on the regulation is due in the coming weeks.
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”