Max password-sharing crackdown coming, company warns

article

FILE - Max app logo (Photo Illustration by Jaque Silva/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Password-sharing filters will "get tighter and tighter" for Max users in coming months, Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO of streaming and games said.

According to Deadline, the company executive shared the news at the Wells Fargo TMT Summit in Rancho Palos Verde, California, last week. He said the crackdown will start with "some very early, gentle messaging."

"This is an art and a science to try and tighten the filter of who’s in there," JB Perrette said, per Deadline. "We’ll start some early messaging with some people who we think are in the higher tier of usage. We will offer a way to essentially add a member, starting in the first quarter. We will then start gradually as we get the data and start figuring out, with some explicit and implicit signals, how good we are at detecting. And then as we go through ’25, you’re going to see the filters get tighter and tighter."

Max’s crackdown is not unlike its streaming competitors. Here’s where other streaming giants stand on password-sharing:

Disney+ password-sharing

Disney fully rolled out its password-sharing crackdown in September. It began in June, but didn’t expand to the U.S. for a few months.

For anyone who’s been watching Disney+ on someone else’s account, there’s now a paid sharing program – meaning users can pay for access to the platform on behalf of family members or friends outside their household.

"Your Disney+ subscription is meant to be used within your Household, which is a collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the individuals who reside there," Disney said in a blog post.

Hulu password-sharing

Hulu began its password-sharing crackdown in March. The streaming service sent emails to customers a month before warning them that the company would restrict their ability to share passwords soon.

Netflix password-sharing

From DVDs to Academy Awards: The history of Netflix

Netflix paved the way for countless other entertainment streaming services to follow.

Netflix was the first company to implement password-sharing restrictions in May 2023. Netflix’s success with the restrictions likely inspired competitors to do the same.

Netflix had a record number of subscribers in its 2023 fourth-quarter earnings report. Ad memberships increased by nearly 70% in the final quarter of 2023.