By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-08 21:07:42 | Updated at 2024-11-09 02:18:39
5 hours ago
HBO Max is joining the growing list of streaming platforms with its own crackdown on password sharing.
But the streamer behind House of Dragon and The Penguin will start with a gentler approach.
Gunnar Wiedenfels, finance chief of parent company Warner Bros Discovery, said in an earnings call that Max would start its crackdown with 'very soft messaging'.
It will be encouraging members who share accounts with other households to 'pay a little bit more.'
This softly, softly approach will be used over the next few months. After that, the company will take more extreme action - such as limiting access to users within a single household.
Cracking down on password sharing aligns Max with platforms like Netflix and Disney+.
But those two streamers are much stricter. They are monitoring where users watch shows - and will cut them off if it is regularly from different addresses.
Warner Bros. Discovery's finance chief Gunnar Wiedenfels confirmed that Max would start its password crackdown with 'very soft messaging'
Max is cracking down on password-sharing. The Penguin with Colin Farrell is one of its biggest shows this fall
Warner Bros. had warned the crackdown was coming earlier this year.
JB Perrette, president and CEO of global streaming and games at Warner Bros. Discover, boasted it would be a way to boost profits - as it was a stealth way to rise prices.
Perrette later called the password crackdown 'a form of price rises' during the November 7 earnings call, but did not discuss details about how the changes would be implemented.
The password crackdown is not the only thing that's made Max streamers frustrated.
Warner Bros. caused an uproar among Max account holders after it raised the price of its ad-free options in June 2024.
The monthly ad-free option price rose $1, bring its total to $16.99 a month. Max's annual ad-free option rose $20 to $169.99.
The streaming platform also hiked the prices of its ultimate ad-free plans, making those priced at $20.99 a month or $209.99 a year.
Despite the streamers' anger over the changes, Max added 7.2 million subscribers this quarter, according to the company's quarter three earnings.
For the quarter from July to September, Max earned $2.63 billion in streaming revenue - an eight percent increase compared to the same time last year.
As of now, Max has over 110 million subscribers.
Netflix and Disney are monitoring where users log in to their accoutns, and will cut them off if it is regularly from different addresses. This is much stricter than Max's inital approach.
Netflix was the first streaming platform to start the password crackdown in the US.
The streaming platform began the crackdown in May 2023, and required its members to do things like confirming a household or verifying devices.
Netflix introduced an option for account holders to add 'extra members' for $7.99 per person.
Its password crackdown worked - and within the first three months of 2024, Netflix added 9.3 million streamers.
The Max price hike coincides with a big push for the release of the new season of critically acclaimed show House of Dragon
Netflix added 9.3 million streamers within the first three months of 2024 after beginning its password crackdown
Disney+ launched its password crackdown in September after announcing plans to stop 'freeloaders' from sharing their accounts.
The streaming platform began informing its subscribers that paid-sharing options are available.
The streaming platform stated that members 'will need to sign up and pay for their own subscription or be added as an extra member to the main account' if they want to use Disney+.
Extra members on a Disney+ basic account is priced at $6.99 a month per person, or $9.99 per person if they're being added to a Disney+ Premium account.
