WASHINGTON — MAX is the latest streaming service to announce it will be cracking down on password sharing.
The initiative from the Warner Bros. Discovery streaming platform would roll out in the later part of 2024 and into 2025, CEO Jean-Briac Perette said during the Morgan Stanley’s 2024 Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on Monday.
“We’re launching in a bunch of European markets as we go into the second and third quarter,” Parette said on Monday. “And password sharing crack down, which, obviously, 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.”
Perrette declined to estimate how much money the company expected the crackdown to generate.
Netflix was the first major streaming service to crackdown on password sharing. In the months following its crackdown, Netflix saw a spike in subscribers even as it became more expensive to watch its lineup of TV shows and movies.
The news of MAX, formerly known as HBO Max, comes just days before another streaming service implements stricter protocols to prevent password sharing.
Hulu, along with Disney+ and ESPN+, announced in early February that they would be banning account sharing with people outside of subscriber’s main household starting March. 14.
“Unless otherwise permitted by your Service Tier, you may not share your subscription outside of your household,” the updated subscriber agreements state. The streaming services defines “household” as “the collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the individuals who reside therein.”
The user agreements for Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ were all last updated on Jan. 25, though it’s unclear when the new language was added for latter two.
Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger last year hinted that such a move was coming for Hulu and the company’s other streaming services Disney+ and ESPN+. Last November, the company began cracking down on password-sharing for Disney+ subscribers in Canada.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.