The days of Apple spending billions of dollars on producing original content that not a lot of people watch could be coming to an end, or at least see a significant decline if reports ring true. Known for its contributions to the tech world, Apple introduced Apple TV+ in 2019, its own streaming service that looked to compete with the likes of Netflix, but while it started off strong in its commitment to producing high quality entertainment, the service hasn’t grown in the way it was hoping. Though series such as The Morning Show, Ted Lasso, and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters have proven successful, they remain outliers in the plethora of original content that the service has offered over the last five years.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple TV+ sees just a small fraction of the numbers Netflix does, accounting for just 0.2% of TV viewership in the United States. Netflix’s audience is more in one day than Apple TV+ sees in a month, which certainly makes it hard to justify the exuberant spending on shows such as Masters of the Air, which cost $250 million to make and was barely a blip on anyone’s radar. This has led to internal discussions at Apple which focus on the streamer looking at ways to cut spending.
"Subscriber growth has been weak, with the platform’s original content a fraction of what rivals offer," said a pair of Bloomberg analysts. Indeed, as Netflix is clearly the winner on that front, investing billions of dollars to produce both foreign and domestic original programming that appeals to every corner of their subscriber base. That’s something that – try as they might – Apple TV+ just can’t compete with, seeing as how Netflix has been in the game a lot longer than they have, and has already captured a significant portion of the streaming audience with more than 277 million subscribers, compared to Apple TV+’s 25 million.
Where Does Apple TV+ Go From Here?
With Netflix clearly the winner of the two, where does that leave Apple TV+, and where do they go from here? They’ve already committed to more seasons of Monarch, The Morning Show, Silo, For All Mankind, Surface, and Hijack, to name a few; shows that cost a significant amount of money to produce, with the tech giant forking over a reported $50 million alone just for the cast of The Morning Show.
First things first, they’re on the right track by cutting back on the number of shows that make it beyond a first season. In 2019, a staggering 100% of its original programming made it to a third season, while in 2021 that number dropped significantly to just 22%. Despite the outcry from fans upon learning that some of their favorites have gotten the ax, this is a business, and if the numbers aren’t enough to justify the spending, then Apple has no choice but to cut their losses and move on.
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It would also behoove Apple to focus a little more on what’s working before they decide to fork over a ton of cash for an experimental original title that might serve only a niche audience. That’s something that filmmakers might not like to hear, but again, this is a business, and creativity and the corporate world have always been at odds with one another, so it should come as no surprise. Why take a chance on a period Western that’s working on one streamer, when you know for certain that sci-fi is the biggest genre on yours? Give your audience more of what they want, and they’ll love you forever. (And if they are great at anything, it's sci-fi, from Foundation and Severance to Dark Matter and Silo.)
All that is to say that Apple TV+ might be on the low end of the totem pole, but they don’t have to lose money if they play their cards right. Sure, Hollywood is a crapshoot in many regards, and sometimes you have to throw stuff at the wall to see if it sticks, but when it comes to navigating your streaming audience, there’s data that tells you where your successes and failures lie. Use that, and there’s a good chance Apple can increase their subscribers year-over-year to become a real player, despite Netflix already having a massive head start.
And hey, even if it's all ultimately a bust for Apple, they can at least say they've been a patron of the arts, like rich and powerful groups before them, from the Medicis to the Guggenheims.
