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JB Perrette, president and global CEO of streaming and gaming, Warner Bros. Discovery.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
Max will become the latest streamer to reduce password sharing, as Warner Bros. Discovery plans to begin its fight in late 2024 through 2025.
Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom conference, JB Perrette, president and global CEO of streaming and gaming at Warner Bros. Discovery, announced plans to limit password sharing, citing a crackdown by Netflix, which he said , were “implemented with great success.” This is all part of WBD’s multi-part plan to generate streaming profits.
“We’re going to do it starting at the end of this year and through the 25th, which is another growth opportunity for us,” Perette said of the crackdown on password sharing.
When asked how big of a revenue opportunity the crackdown on password sharing represents, Perette said it’s “a significant opportunity” but was cautious about “overselling” it, given the comparison of 260 million subscribers. from Netflix and its longest history with Max’s 97.7 million.
“I am conscious of not overselling because we see the success of Netflix. Netflix was on the market for 17 years. That means people were sharing passwords for 17 years. We have been in the market for four years, if we count the launch of HBO Max, and we are obviously not on the same scale. But we believe that, relative to the scale of our business, it is a significant opportunity.”
WBD posted a full-year 2023 streaming profit, a rarity among Hollywood media conglomerates, but in the fourth quarter, the streaming segment posted a loss of $55 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, compared to one year. -Makes a loss of 217 million dollars.
The goal is to maintain a steady profit in this segment, something Perette said the company believes it can achieve through greater globalization, given that 80 percent of the company’s revenue is still based in the U.S. ., in addition to expanding the level of advertising, which it launched in the United States, Europe and Latin America.
Additionally, he noted an improvement in the content slate over the next 18 to 24 months, which includes the second season of Dragon House in June and next year, the second season of The last of us, the second season of Euphoriaand the third season of The White Lotus.
“Unfortunately, we launched Max in the US and over the next eight months, for a variety of reasons (some we knew about, some related to the strike), we launched probably the lightest slate of content we’ve ever had,” he said . saying.
While Netflix was the first streamer to implement a crackdown on passwords, which helped translate to an increase of 13 million new subscribers in the most recent quarter, Disney has also said it will begin implementing a password sharing policy.
Disney has already updated its subscription agreement for Disney+, as well as Hulu, to prohibit account sharing for new subscribers starting January 25 and for existing subscribers starting March 14. And last month, Disney CFO Hugh Johnston said that starting this summer, Disney+ account holders will be “introduced to new capabilities” that will allow those who share accounts to start their own subscriptions.