Apple is reassessing its spending on original content for Apple TV+ after investing approximately $20 billion. Reports indicate that Eddy Cue, an executive at Apple, is in discussions with the heads of the streaming service’s studio, Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, about budget constraints. They aim to decrease the platform’s image as the largest spender in the industry.
The company’s extensive financial commitments include $250 million for the miniseries “Masters of Air,” which was released this year but did not garner significant interest. Furthermore, Apple has invested over $500 million on films from renowned directors like Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, and Matthew Vaughn.
Despite these expenditures, Apple TV+ holds only 0.2% of the television viewership in the United States, attracting fewer views in a month than Netflix does in just a day. The platform has faced challenges in boosting its subscriber numbers.
While Apple does not prioritize streaming as a core aspect of its business, the trend of unrestricted spending appears to be coming to an end, as indicated by the company’s hesitation to renew shows for a third season. Notably, Apple TV+ remains the only major streaming service without an advertisement-supported tier, a situation that may change following the recent hire of Joseph Cady, an advertising executive from NBCUniversal.