Apple is reportedly re-evaluating its spending on original content for Apple TV+, following extensive investments that have reached approximately $20 billion. According to Bloomberg, executive Eddy Cue has been in discussions with studio heads Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht about reducing budgets and changing the platform’s identity as the industry’s biggest spender.
Apple has invested significantly in various productions, including the miniseries “Masters of Air,” which cost $250 million and garnered minimal viewer interest. Additionally, it has invested more than $500 million in films from renowned directors like Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, and Matthew Vaughn.
Despite these substantial expenditures, Apple TV+ holds only 0.2% of television viewership in the U.S., attracting fewer viewers in a month than Netflix does within a single day. The streaming service has faced challenges in growing its subscriber base.
Although Apple’s streaming venture is not central to its core business, it appears that the era of unrestricted spending may come to an end. There have been signs of this shift, such as hesitance in renewing shows for third seasons, as reported by Bloomberg.
Importantly, Apple TV+ remains the only major streaming service without an advertisement-supported tier, a situation likely to change after the hiring of ad executive Joseph Cady from NBCUniversal earlier this year.