Latest news with #JBPerette
Forbes
08-08-2025
- Business
- Forbes
HBO Max: The Password Sharing Crackdown Is About To Begin
HBO Max is one of the latest streaming platforms to take action against people sharing passwords, from next month. Here's everything you need to know. It's been two-and-a-half years since the password sharing crackdown was announced for Netflix, which resulted in more subscriptions, the company said. Now, HBO Max is about to up its game with prompts to persuade subscribers to pay an extra monthly fee to add another person to their account. According to The Verge, ' 'In September, you'll actually start to see the messaging — which right now has been a fairly soft, cancelable messaging — start to get more fixed and such that people have to take action,' Warner Bros. Discovery streaming head JB Perette said. That's a change from what's been describes as a voluntary process right now. The move to cracking down on sharers was announced last year but from next month it will drive paid sharing 'in a much more aggressive fashion,' Perette said. The sharing fee, $7.99 a month, allows a subscriber to add one more person to their account, and that extra person gets their own account, password and profile. Only one person can be added. HBO Max with ads is $9.99 a month, so not much more than the sharing fee. However, sharing brings a benefit: if the person is sharing the account of someone on the Premium plan with 4K streaming, that's what the sharer gets. And since that plan normally costs $20.99 a month, it's a more affordable way to get the best service. 'HBO Max will use account information, IP address, device ID, and user activity to determine if accounts are used by people in more than one household,' MacRumors reports. From there, cracking down on multiple households will be straightforward. 'Warner Bros. Discovery execs expect paid sharing to boost subscriber growth, which Netflix reported following its clampdown,' The Verge points out. Indeed, Perrette has previously said about password sharing crackdowns, 'Netflix has implemented extremely successfully. We're going to be doing that starting later this year and into '25, which is another growth opportunity for us.' All that said, there's evidence that customers are becoming more choosy in their subscriptions, so how it will work for HBO Max is still to be seen.
The Verge
07-08-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
HBO Max is going to get even more annoying about password sharing
HBO Max's password-sharing crackdown is about to get stricter. During an earnings call on Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery streaming head JB Perette said prompts surrounding account sharing will become more persistent starting next month, pushing people toward paying an extra $7.99 per month to add an extra member to their account. 'In September, you'll actually start to see the messaging — which right now has been a fairly soft, cancelable messaging — start to get more fixed and such that people have to take action,' Perette said, adding that right now, paid sharing is 'a voluntary process.' Following password-sharing crackdowns at Netflix and Disney Plus, Warner Bros. Discovery announced its own plan to introduce paid sharing last year. So far, HBO Max has introduced 'soft messaging' surrounding the change, but it hasn't begun to strictly enforce the policy. The streamer added 3.4 million subscribers in the months following its debrand from Max to HBO Max, and it will begin driving paid sharing 'in a much more aggressive fashion' later this year, according to Perette. HBO Max currently uses account information, IP addresses, device IDs, and user activity to determine if someone is sharing their account with a person outside their household. Warner Bros. Discovery execs expect paid sharing to boost subscriber growth, which Netflix reported following its clampdown. But as subscription fatigue continues to grow, making people pay to share their passwords might not go over smoothly with subscribers. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Emma Roth Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Entertainment Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All HBO Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Streaming
