HBO Max is cracking down on password sharing by charging an additional monthly cost, starting next month.
Warner Bros Discovery, the media company behind HBO Max, made the announcement during a recent earnings call on Aug.7, stating that people who plan on adding viewers outside of their household will face a $7.99 monthly payment in addition to the user’s regular subscription cost, Verge reported.
“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 according to Verge, adding that right now, paid sharing is “a voluntary process.”
The streaming service’s plan comes after Netflix and Disney+ also cracked down on password sharing. HBO Max introduced a “soft messaging” surrounding the change but the policy was never strictly enforced, Verge wrote.
By charging these extra fees, the service could obtain a larger subscription base. In fact, Netflix reported a big surge in sign-ups after prohibiting the sharing of user passwords in 2023. The service saw 5.9 million new users, which is nearly three times what analysts had estimated.
Warner Bros Discovery did not respond to MassLive’s request for comment.
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