Apple is reassessing its strategy for Apple TV+ as it comes to terms with its significant expenditures on original programming, which have reached around $20 billion, according to Bloomberg. The company has brought in executive Eddy Cue to meet with studio heads Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht about curbing production budgets. The duo has purportedly communicated a desire for the streaming service to distance itself from its image as the most extravagant spender in the industry.
Among its financial commitments, Apple allocated $250 million to the miniseries “Masters of Air,” released this year but garnered minimal interest. Additionally, it has invested over $500 million in films from renowned directors such as Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, and Matthew Vaughn.
Despite these substantial investments, Apple TV+ accounts for only 0.2% of television viewership in the U.S., attracting fewer viewers in a month than Netflix accumulates in just 24 hours. Moreover, the platform has faced challenges in growing its subscriber base.
However, these streaming issues do not seem to alarm Apple significantly, as streaming does not constitute a primary segment of its business model. Nevertheless, there are indications that the era of unlimited spending may soon come to an end, particularly as the company has shown reluctance to renew shows for a third season based on Bloomberg’s findings.
Currently, Apple TV+ is the only major streaming service without an advertisement-supported option, a situation that may soon change following the appointment of Joseph Cady, a former NBCUniversal advertising executive, earlier this year.