After spending millions on box office busts/disappointments (at least regarding revenue) Apple is apparently tightening its budget.
According to Bloomberg, after spending more than $20 billion to produce original TV shows and movies, Apple is refining its strategy in Hollywood.
Based on interviews with more than a dozen people, including former employees, current employees and business partners, the article says that Apple services boss Eddy Cue has been having regular meetings with studio chiefs Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht to go over budgets, pushing them to exert more control over spending on projects. Van Amburg and Erlicht have told some of their top creative partners that they want to change their reputation as the biggest spender in town, according to these people.
“Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Napoleon,” “Argyle,” and “Fly Me to the Moon” all failed to make a significant dent at the box office despite budgets ranging from $100 million to $200 million and beyond.
Bloomberg says Apple is spending billions of dollars a year on original programming that has received strong reviews and many awards nominations. But its streaming service is attracting just 0.2% of TV viewing in the US. Apple TV+ generates less viewing in one month than Netflix does in one day.
“Subscriber growth has been weak, with the platform’s original content a fraction of what rivals offer,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Geetha Ranganathan and Kevin Near wrote in a recent note.
Part of Apple TV+’s refined strategy may be licensing more content to accompany its original fare. Apple is talking with Hollywood studios to license more films to beef up the amount of content on Apple TV+, according to Bloomberg.
Quoting people “who asked not to be identified discussing private negotiations,” the article says the tech giant has spoken to several of the largest studios about acquiring more programming from their libraries to offer customers both in the US and abroad, said the people, A representative for Apple didn’t respond to a request comment.
Up until now Apple has relied almost exclusively on original content. According to the research firm MoffettNathanson, only 11% of U.S. households use Apple TV+, compared to 55% for Netflix. This may due to a lack of content compared to other streams. Apparently, Apple wants to change this.
About Apple TV+
Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $9.99 per month with a seven-day free trial.
For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free. For more information, visit apple.com/tvpr and see the full list of supported devices.
