Apple is aware that it is investing excessively in television shows and movies that many people have likely never seen or even heard of.
According to a report from Bloomberg, the tech giant is considering a new strategy for Apple TV+ following an enormous expenditure of $20 billion on original content. Apple executive Eddy Cue has been in discussions with Apple TV+ studio heads Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht about scaling back budgets. Reports indicate that Van Amburg and Erlicht have informed others that the streaming service aims to move away from its image as the largest spender in the industry.
Among Apple’s significant financial commitments was $250 million for the miniseries “Masters of Air,” which premiered this year but failed to gain much traction. The company has also invested over $500 million in films from prominent directors such as Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, and Matthew Vaughn.
Despite this monumental spending, Apple TV+ holds only 0.2% of TV viewership in the United States, garnering fewer views in a month than Netflix achieves in just 24 hours. The service has also faced challenges in attracting new subscribers.
Although Apple TV+’s struggles don’t seem to concern the corporation too much, given that streaming is not central to its business, the era of unrestricted spending appears to be coming to an end. This shift is reflected in the company’s hesitance to renew shows for their third season, as indicated by Bloomberg data.
Notably, Apple TV+ is the last major streaming service that does not have an ad-supported tier, but that may change soon following the recent hiring of Joseph Cady, an advertising executive from NBCUniversal.