Password Sharing: Charter, ESPN, Viacom Lead Crackdown On Giving Friends, Family Passwords

If cable company executives have their way, the time-honored tradition of sharing cable login passwords with friends and family may be coming to an end. One major cable provider is looking to crack down on the practice of password sharing.

Tom Rutledge, the CEO of Charter, told an audience at the UBS Conference earlier this month that there are a considerable number of people getting access to cable for free. “There’s lots of extra streams, there’s lots of extra passwords, there’s lots of people who could get free service," he said, according to Bloomberg .

While it’s common for family members or close friends and roommates to share login information for cable services as a cost-saving measure, the practice of sharing passwords has become its own marketplace online—especially during noteworthy live events like the airing of a popular TV show or major sporting event.

It’s not uncommon to find passwords online, either through illicit means like on the dark web or even on mainstream platforms like Twitter or Reddit. Rutledge said that one station owner identified 30,000 simultaneous streams from a single user account.

Charter has been on the forefront of the password sharing crackdown. Last year, the company made a point during a contract negotiation with Viacom—home of stations like MTV and Comedy Central—to limit the number of simultaneous streams allowed through the channel’s apps.

Joining Charter in pushing for action against password sharing is ESPN, the Disney-owned sports network that is reliant on its exclusive sports broadcasts. Justin Connolly, the executive vice president for affiliate sales and marketing at ESPN and Disney networks, called the practice of password sharing “piracy.”

“It’s people consuming something they haven’t paid for ,” the executive said. “The more the practice is viewed with a shrug, the more it creates a dynamic where people believe it’s acceptable. And it’s not.”

Connolly relied a story from ESPN researchers who spoke with a group of 50 millennials about their watching habits in which the young viewers were asked how many of them shared passwords. All 50 members of the group raised their hand.

According to an analysis produced by Parks Associates, about one-third of internet users stream cable TV by using the login credentials of someone they don’t live with. The firm estimated that password sharing would cost the cable industry $3.5 billion this year and as much as $9.9 billion by 2021.

While cable companies and networks that rely on subscribers to generate revenue, streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu and YouTube have accepted password sharing as a simple matter of fact. Most streaming platforms allow simultaneous streams as part of the price that its customers pay monthly.

“Password sharing is something you have to learn to live with, because there’s so much legitimate password sharing, like you sharing with your spouse, with your kids, so there’s no bright line, and we’re doing fine as is," Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said in 2016.

HBO has taken a similar view of password sharing, considering a part of the business. A spokesperson for HBO said that password sharing is “still relatively small and we are seeing no economic impact on our business.”