David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, believes that HBO Max, the popular streaming platform, is priced too low and could soon see a price increase. Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia and Technology Conference, Zaslav said the high quality of HBO Max’s movies, TV shows, and streaming content justifies charging more.
Currently, HBO Max offers several plans with prices ranging from $9.99 per month for the ad-supported basic plan to $20.99 per month for the premium 4K option. Zaslav feels these prices do not reflect the superior content available on HBO Max compared to competitors.
Along with the potential price increase, Warner Bros. Discovery plans to crack down on password sharing. Password sharing has been an ongoing issue for streaming services, and HBO Max will begin enforcing stricter rules to curb unauthorized account usage.
Zaslav also mentioned that the company will take its time before raising prices but clearly thinks the current pricing is too low. The upcoming price hike would follow similar moves by other streaming platforms trying to balance higher costs of content production with subscriber growth.
Overall, HBO Max viewers can expect improvements in content quality and possibly higher prices in the near future, along with stricter account sharing restrictions.