HBO Max to Begin Aggressive Password Sharing Crackdown in Fourth Quarter, Warner Bros. Discovery Says

By Trevor Decker | August 8, 2025 | Streaming

Warner Bros. Discovery is preparing to tighten its control over HBO Max account access, with executives confirming that a more forceful approach to curbing password sharing will begin in the fourth quarter.

Speaking during the company’s second-quarter earnings call, JB Perrette, the company’s head of streaming and gaming, said recent testing has helped identify which accounts belong to legitimate subscribers and which may fall outside the terms of service. That groundwork will set the stage for stronger measures aimed at closing loopholes by the end of 2025, with a noticeable financial impact expected in 2026.

“The message language right now has been a fairly soft, cancel-able message,” Perrette explained. “It will start to get more fixed and such that people have to take action as opposed to right now, sort of having to be a voluntary process.”

Perrette compared the current phase to “the first inning” of the process, noting that the company will adopt more assertive messaging later this year. The move aligns HBO Max with other streaming services, including Netflix and Disney+, that have stepped up enforcement against account sharing in recent years.

Warner Bros. Discovery reported a 3.4 million increase in streaming subscribers during the quarter—driven largely by international growth—bringing the company’s total to 125.7 million.

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