(Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The streaming service password crackdowns continue, with HBO Max promising to get more serious about requiring people to have their own accounts if they want to stream The Gilded Age or The Pitt.
In a recent earnings call, the head of Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming business, JB Perrette, said the account-sharing crackdown is only in the "first inning" (of nine in baseball terms). The company has spent the past several months building datasets to differentiate legitimate subscribers from freeloaders, and it now has enough data to place the “net in the right place,” Perrette said.
“We feel great about where we are. Starting 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 steps that people have to take action, as opposed to having it be a voluntary process,” he added.
As a result, Warner Bros. Discovery expects the account-sharing crackdown to lead to more paid subscriptions in Q4 and next year. HBO Max introduced paid account sharing in April, enabling a subscriber to share access with an “extra member” for an extra $7.99 per month. It reported adding 3.4 million subscribers to HBO Max in Q2.
Still, the crackdown might alienate some subscribers, as many video streaming services have resorted to price hikes. In addition, HBO Max is showing more commercials on its ad-supported plan, which starts at $9.99 per month in the US.