Warner Bros. Discovery is signaling a more stringent approach to password sharing on its flagship streaming service, Max, with plans to get “more assertive” with users who are accessing accounts outside of the primary household. During the company’s recent Q1 earnings call, JB Perrette, CEO and president of global streaming and games, outlined a multi-phase strategy that will see the platform gently nudge freeloading viewers initially, before implementing firmer measures later in 2025 and into 2026. This crackdown is part of a broader effort to boost subscriber numbers and revenue, following a path already trod by other major streaming players. To offer a legitimate way for subscribers to share their accounts, Max recently introduced an “Extra Member Add-On” feature in the U.S., priced at $7.99 per month, allowing account holders to pay for an additional user outside their home. The full rollout of this initiative is expected to take between 12 and 18 months, giving current password borrowers a window to make their own arrangements.
“The messaging [to users] is part of the parallel path of the password-sharing initiatives that we have,” Perrette stated during the earnings call. He detailed that the company is starting with “very soft messaging,” which “will start getting firmer and more visible to subscribers over the months to come.” This gradual escalation is designed to ease users into the new policy, with Perrette adding that the messaging on password sharing will get “more assertive over the course of the back half of the year and really into 2026.” WBD anticipates this move will deliver a “boost of both subscriber and ARPU growth,” referring to average revenue per unit, though Perrette declined to quantify the specific “size of the opportunity.”
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The new “Extra Member Add-On” feature, currently available in the U.S. for retail subscribers (excluding bundles), allows a primary Max account owner to invite one friend or family member from outside their household to create a separate, standalone account with their own adult profile and login credentials, all under the same subscription for an additional $7.99 per month. This add-on member can stream on one device at a time and gets the benefits of the primary owner’s base plan. Max’s terms of service have been updated to reflect these changes, indicating that the company reserves the right to “modify access or disable features to limit the impact of account sharing outside of your household or where we have concluded in our discretion that there has been misuse of your Max Account.” To determine what constitutes a household, Warner Bros. Discovery will use “account and profile information along with a combination of network and device information (including IP addresses, device IDs, and user activity) chosen at our discretion.”
Max Joins Growing List of Streamers Cracking Down on Password Sharing
Max’s move to curtail password sharing reflects a significant industry-wide shift as streaming services pivot from chasing pure subscriber growth to focusing on profitability and better monetization of their existing user bases. Netflix was the most prominent early mover, launching its widespread password-sharing crackdown in May 2023. The company defined a “Netflix Household” as devices connected at the primary viewing location and began prompting users sharing accounts outside this household to either transfer profiles to new, paid subscriptions or have the primary account holder pay an additional fee for an “extra member.” Despite initial concerns about user backlash, Netflix reported significant subscriber additions following the implementation, attributing the growth to successful conversions of password borrowers into paying customers or add-ons.
Following Netflix’s lead, other major players have also begun to tighten the reins. Disney announced its plans to address password sharing. In early 2024, U.S. subscribers to Disney+ and Hulu began receiving notifications about updated terms of service prohibiting sharing outside the household. By September 2024, Disney began more earnestly implementing its paid sharing program in the U.S. and other global markets, allowing users to add an “Extra Member” for an additional fee, similar to Netflix and now Max. Hulu, also under Disney’s control, began updating its terms and enforcing restrictions around March 2024. Max, therefore, is joining an established trend, hoping to replicate the financial successes seen by its competitors.
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