Max Planning to Crack Down on Password Sharing

[MacRumors]

Max, the streaming service previously known as HBO Max, is cracking down on password sharing in the coming months, reports The Verge. During an earnings call today, parent company Warner Bros. Discovery said that customers will start seeing "very soft messaging" about the upcoming change.

After that initial message about password sharing, more strict rules will be put into place in 2025 and 2026. Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Widenfels said that Max would be asking viewers who have "not signed up, or multi-household members to pay a little bit more."

Max could also get a price increase in the future, and the company has not ruled out raising the cost of a subscription. Widenfels said that there is a "fair amount of room to continue to push a price" that Max has been "judicious about."

Max has a total of 110.5 million subscribers globally, and the service is priced starting at $9.99 per month for an ad-supported version ($99.99 per year), or $16.99 per month for an ad-free version ($169.99 per year). There's also a more expensive "Ultimate" $20.99/month plan that provides 4K streaming.

Streaming services are putting an end to password sharing after Netflix successfully cracked down on the practice last year. Netflix saw its subscription numbers increase after preventing customers from sharing accounts across multiple households.

Article Link: Max Planning to Crack Down on Password Sharing

 

[1applerules1]

Leeches be gone!

 

[Trusteft]

Wait, subscribers have to watch ads too? lol
I am glad I don't have any of these.

 

[GoosePoops]

I cancelled last year when they did the major price hike and then required an "Ultimate" plan to view 4K content. Signed up again this year when I got a promotion for 60% off a year, and then discovered the app is now filled to the brim with awful B-tier reality TV type content. Sad to see HBO have such a fall from grace in the last few years. Won't be resubscribing.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

I know Netflix somehow proved people wrong with the crackdowns and actually GAINED more subscribers, insane btw, but eventually these plans will require you to lock in for 'X' amount of months to prevent binge watching/canceling while still receiving regular price increases.

The boomers are keeping cable TV alive and now we have this streaming ****. Nothing good every last.

 

[2761216]

$20.99 to watch Godzilla vs Megalon.

Half a dozen major streaming services costing more than a coffee a day with none of them providing any real value.

Piracy ftw!

 

[wikiverse]

$20.99 to watch Godzilla vs Megalon.

Half a dozen major streaming services costing more than a coffee a day with none of them providing any real value.

Piracy ftw!

We're back at cable. Subscriptions to lots of different channels, with ads. The only difference is that it's on-demand and not linear. Turns out the streaming model that everyone rushed into is expensive to operate and doesn't produce the rivers of gold investors were promised.

 

[techfreak23]

We knew this was coming after Netflix got away with it and more recently with Disney. These password sharing "crackdowns" are absolutely ridiculous and everyone should cancel any service that does it. It would be like your cell phone provider charging you extra on a family plan line just because that family member doesn't live with you. They actually have more of a justification for doing that than the greedy streaming services, but they don't do it. Anyone trying to defend them and compare to the days of cable/satellite are insane. We pay for a number of simultaneous streams, not number of rooms in a household. There's absolutely no justification, especially with the frequent price increases. They don't incur infrastructure costs because they don't control your internet. Cable companies had to actually do home setups and maintenance.

 

[kiensoy]

Everyone following Netflix footsteps

 

[GeoStructural]

I know Netflix somehow proved people wrong with the crackdowns and actually GAINED more subscribers, insane btw, but eventually these plans will require you to lock in for 'X' amount of months to prevent binge watching/canceling while still receiving regular price increases.

The curious thing is that Netflix managed to do that in the U.S., where their content is pretty lackluster, with emphasis on originals. In many countries Netflix is actually a pretty good deal, they offer way more programming (movies, TV series, etc.) that are not available in the U.S., and for less money.

 

[sw1tcher]

$20.99 to watch Godzilla vs Megalon.

Half a dozen major streaming services costing more than a coffee a day with none of them providing any real value.

Piracy ftw!

$20.99 a month or $0.70 a day (30 days). Unless you're making coffe at home or something, you're paying more than $0.70 per cup of coffee.

A small cup of coffee is $1.39 at McDonald's, $2.19 at Burger King, $1.99 at Dunkin, $2.85 (short) at Starbucks...

We're back at cable. Subscriptions to lots of different channels, with ads. The only difference is that it's on-demand and not linear.

Another difference is you can pause/cancel and resume at any time unlike cable tv.

And streaming is still less expensive than cable tv even if you were to subscribe to 5 different ad-support services to make it comparable to the ads you get on cable tv.

Max (with ads) = $9.99/mo
Netflix (with ads) = $6.99/mo
Disney+ and Hulu (both with ads) = $10.99/mo
Paramount + (with ads) = $7.99/mo

$35.96/mo for 5 streaming services. Those same 5 streaming services but without ads are $65.46/mo (actually since Paramount+ includes Showtime with their ad-free $12.99/mo plan, you're getting 6 streaming services for $65.46/mo)

Cable tv is way more than that. Spectrum is $95/mo though I do get Disney+ (with ads) and Paramount+ (with ads). I should also note that's an introductory 1 year price. Who knows what the price is after the 1 year term is up.

 

[victorvictoria]

$20.99 to watch Godzilla vs Megalon.

Half a dozen major streaming services costing more than a coffee a day with none of them providing any real value.

Piracy ftw!

You paid $20.09 to watch that turkey???

 

[Tago]

I pay, but it takes me like at least 12-18 months before I bother to revisit one of these services if I have paid for a month. Probably 2 years or so since Max/HBO, and about 18 months since Netflix.

If I tried to force my Max (or Netflix for that matter) password upon anyone, they would refuse. The mountain of crap one has to zip through in order to find something even remotely palatable is huge. And if you find something half decent it is.... that`s right..... because you have seen it before. Hooray!

...but more often one gives up. And settle for some crap just to be amused by the silliness of some content, and as a result of having done that - seen a crap movie or two - the algorithms believe that`s what you actually prefer, and starts force feeding you with more manure. And regardless of deletion of history + what not, the algorithms never forget. Doomed forever at Groundhog day.

 

[rizzo41999]

Plex + home server or NAS

 

[SpotOnT]

Plex + home server or NAS

That is the way to go.

You also don’t have to worry about them taking a show down or censoring it.

 

[Realityck]

$20.99 a month or $0.70 a day (30 days). Unless you're making coffe at home or something, you're paying more than $0.70 per cup of coffee.

A small cup of coffee is $1.39 at McDonald's, $2.19 at Burger King, $1.99 at Dunkin, $2.85 (short) at Starbucks...


Another difference is you can pause/cancel and resume at any time unlike cable tv.

And streaming is still less expensive than cable tv even if you were to subscribe to 5 different ad-support services to make it comparable to the ads you get on cable tv.

Max (with ads) = $9.99/mo
Netflix (with ads) = $6.99/mo
Disney+ and Hulu (both with ads) = $10.99/mo
Paramount + (with ads) = $7.99/mo

$35.96/mo for 5 streaming services. Those same 5 streaming services but without ads are $65.46/mo (actually since Paramount+ includes Showtime with their ad-free $12.99/mo plan, you're getting 6 streaming services for $65.46/mo)

Cable tv is way more than that. Spectrum is $95/mo though I do get Disney+ (with ads) and Paramount+ (with ads). I should also note that's an introductory 1 year price. Who knows what the price is after the 1 year term is up.

View attachment 2448271

If one takes their time examine pricing you can always find lots more content via internet VoD hosts then any of these TV plans could provide in a year, each month.

 

[CarAnalogy]

I cancelled last year when they did the major price hike and then required an "Ultimate" plan to view 4K content. Signed up again this year when I got a promotion for 60% off a year, and then discovered the app is now filled to the brim with awful B-tier reality TV type content. Sad to see HBO have such a fall from grace in the last few years. Won't be resubscribing.

Add it to the list of things that the new AT&T has bought and ruined. Don’t forget that they bought it, gutted it, and sold it off to Warner.

It’s HBO in name only.

 

[AppleTO]

Next step is they will introduce monthly pricing based on yearly commitments. So for example, $16.99/month with a yearly commitment, otherwise $24.99/month-to-month.

 

[bLackjackj]

Cable tv is way more than that. Spectrum is $95/mo though I do get Disney+ (with ads) and Paramount+ (with ads). I should also note that's an introductory 1 year price. Who knows what the price is after the 1 year term is up.

Thats totally wrong and RRP. Call up and just like every other country that offers PayTV and you get major discounts. I pay US35 for a full suite of channels.

 

[SolidAdamantium]

I travel a lot and if I pay for 2 streams at a time, it shouldn’t matter where those streams take place, as long as I’m not exceeding my 2 streams. This seems like a BS cash grab from companies who spend way too much for content and end up losing money

 

[webkit]

Next step is they will introduce monthly pricing based on yearly commitments. So for example, $16.99/month with a yearly commitment, otherwise $24.99/month-to-month.

They essentially do that now. For ad-free, a yearly commitment is $14.17/month ($169.99 paid in advance) or $16.99 month-to-month. For ad-supported, a yearly commitment is $8.33/month ($99.99 paid in advance) or $9.99 month-to-month.

 

[CK1Czar]

I canceled Netflix and Disney. I still have cable so HBO/Max is safe for now because it is included with my cable. About to cancel Prime since Lord of Rings is done again.

 

[Kbaegis]

I want to test this. Anyone want my Max password?

 

[Blackstick]

M1 8GB/256GB Mac Minis are $299 and make fantastic Plex servers when you hook up an 18TB drive.

 

[xander49x]

I just buy movies and TV shows from Apple and I am setting up a Plex server and I can get Netflix and Apple TV+ for free from T-Mobile I use Apple TV+ and will not use Netflix ever.