Max’s password sharing crackdown will kick off next week with some “early, gentle messaging,” according to WBD exec JB Perrette.
“We will kick off literally in about a week, some very early, gentle messaging,” Perrette said during a tech and media conference hosted by Wells Fargo on Tuesday. “We’ll start some early messaging to people who we think are definitely in the higher tier of usage.”
Beginning in the first quarter of 2025, Max will offer “a way to essentially add a member,” according to Perrette, who serves as Warner Bros. Discovery’s global streaming chief. He added that it’s an “art and a science” to figure out which Max users are sharing their passwords or if their account is being used in a vacation home or on a business trip.
“We will then start, gradually as we get the data … figuring out, with some explicit and implicit signals … how good we are at detecting and then as we go through [20]25 you’re going to see the filters get tighter and tighter,” Perrette said. “We think that’s a meaningful growth driver, likely more as it … begins to kick in in the back half of [20]25 and into [20]26.”
Perrette cautioned that he didn’t want to “oversell the scale” of the password crackdown and its potential margin for growth, saying “it won’t be Netflix — we haven’t been in the market for 15 years.” Still, the executive predicted the crackdown could translate into “meaningful growth driver on subs and on revenue,” likely beginning the back half of 2025 and into 2026 and 2027.
Perrette also provided several updates on HBO’s upcoming slate of releases, including revealing a February launch date for the third season of Mike White’s “The White Lotus.” He revealed that “The Last of Us” Season 2 slated for spring 2025 premiere while “Game of Thrones” prequel series “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is eyeing launching in late 2025.
“Euphoria,” which is gearing up to begin production on its third season in January 2025, is looking at a 2026 premiere date, moving from its previously aimed release date in 2025.
