Max needs higher prices, more ads to help support WBD’s flailing businesses
Subscribing to the Max streaming service is expected to become more costly in 2025. That could mean indirectly, like through another streaming password crackdown, or directly, like through increases to monthly and/or annual subscription prices.
Password crackdowns as a “form of price rises”
During the earnings call for parent company Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) for its fiscal Q3 2024, which ended on September 30, WBD signaled that it's gearing up to roll out its next strategy for growing streaming revenue—charging subscribers extra for sharing passwords—over the next few months. This will start with "very soft messaging" toward Max users before the crackdown intensifies in 2025 and 2026, WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels said.
Wiedenfels admitted that on their own, password crackdowns are “a form of price rises.” Netflix kicked off this form of price hike in the US in May 2023, and other streaming services have followed. That means Max is behind some rivals when it comes to implementing this restriction. Further, Max has been discussing its password crackdown since March, so subscribers could take some comfort in not seeing the restrictions launch sooner.