Many of the best streaming services have begun cracking down on password sharing. And now, it looks like Max is joining the movement.
According to Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw, this password-sharing crackdown "begins later this year and will roll out across 2025."
This movement towards banning password sharing is being spearheaded by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and President of Global Streaming and Games JB Perrette. When officially announcing the impending crackdown during Morgan Stanley’s 2024 Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in San Francisco on Monday (March 4), Perrette said "We think, relative to the scale of our business, it’s a meaningful opportunity” (h/t The Wrap).
Bad news — password sharing crackdowns work
Of course, Max isn't the first streaming service to engage in a password sharing crackdown. It's actually nearly the last.
Just don't expect this to be the end of password sharing crackdowns. With Peacock and Paramount merger talks ongoing and Paramount Plus eyeing profitability in 2025, it'd be a shock if it isn't next to join in the password sharing crackdown parade.
Netflix kicked off the movement, veering away from a feature of streaming that it had once championed, back in early 2023 with the first major password-sharing crackdown. People were outraged, assumed it was a massive error on Netflix's part and expected subscription numbers to collapse.
And then ... they didn't. In fact, it worked brilliantly for Netflix. Netflix reported "more new subscriptions in the U.S. ... than in any other four-day period" during the end of May and 6 million new subscribers in Q2 2023. That number grew in Q3, with another 8.8 million subscribers joining the streaming service and Netflix declaring itself "completely satisfied" with the password-sharing crackdown.
So it's no surprise that the other streaming services — all of which are still struggling to turn a profit — are following Netflix's example. Hulu announced its password-sharing crackdown on Feb. 1 and Disney Plus confirmed its password-sharing crackdown a mere six days later. Both password-sharing crackdowns will begin rolling out on March 14.
Max still hasn't confirmed the exact date of its crackdown, though the timetable proposed by Perrette suggests a Q4 2024 start and a full rollout in Q1 or Q2 2025. Just don't expect this to be the end of password-sharing crackdowns. With Peacock and Paramount merger talks ongoing and Paramount Plus seeking paths to profitability in 2025, it'd be a shock if it isn't next to join in the password-sharing crackdown parade.
