Another streaming service is giving freeloaders the boot.
Over the next few weeks, Discovery Max (formerly HBO Max) will start the process of cutting off members who are sharing their accounts with someone outside the home. The streaming service first announced this change in March of this year.
Also: The best live TV streaming services: Expert tested
According to a report from Deadline, JB Perrette, Warner Brothers Discover CEO and President of Global Streaming and Games, said the transition will start very gradually.
Over the next few weeks, he said, high data users — that is, those who are likely sharing — will start to see “gentle messaging” reminding them that password sharing violates the streaming service’s user agreement. By the end of the first quarter of 2025, there will be a way to officially add a member – the same strategy Netflix uses. Throughout the rest of next year, the filters will get tighter and tighter.
Disney+ has instituted a similar crackdown, as has Hulu and Netflix. For Netflix, at least, the move paid off big time and led to a surge in new subscriptions. Earlier this year, Perrette pointed to that success as inspiration for Discovery Max, saying, “Netflix has implemented it extremely successfully. We’re gonna be doing that starting later this year and into 2025.”
Discovery Max was already riding a bit of a subscription high before this announcement, adding more than 7 million customers in the third quarter of this year, bringing its total to more than 110 million.
Also: The best VPN for streaming: Expert tested and reviewed
Perrette added that given the “premium nature” of Max, a price increase to go along with the crackdown isn’t off the table. There’s “a fair amount of room to continue to push a price we’ve been judicious about,” he closed.
Discovery Max is currently priced at $9.99 a month for the ad-supported plan and $16.99 a month for the ad-free plan. Bundles with Disney+ and ESPN+ are also available starting at $16.99 a month.
