Apple is reassessing its spending on original content for Apple TV+, acknowledging that it has invested excessively in shows and movies that haven’t garnered significant viewer attention. The company reportedly spent around $20 billion on original programming, leading to discussions among executives about budget cuts.
Eddy Cue, an Apple executive, has been in dialogue with the heads of Apple TV+’s studios, Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, about strategies to reduce expenditures. They have expressed the intention to shed Apple TV+’s image as the streaming service with the largest budget in the industry.
Huge investments have included $250 million for the miniseries “Masters of Air,” which received minimal viewership upon release. Additionally, Apple has spent over $500 million on films from major directors such as Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, and Matthew Vaughn.
Despite this extensive financial outlay, Apple TV+ holds just 0.2% of the US TV viewership market and attracts fewer views in a month than Netflix obtains in a single day. The service has also faced challenges in growing its subscriber base.
While Apple’s core business does not revolve around streaming services, the company seems to be moving towards more cautious spending, as evidenced by its reluctance to renew shows for third seasons. Notably, Apple TV+ remains the only major streaming platform without an advertising tier, a situation that may change following the hiring of ad executive Joseph Cady from NBCUniversal earlier this year.