Apple is reassessing its spending on original content for Apple TV+, having invested an enormous $20 billion so far, according to a report from Bloomberg. The tech giant is looking to adopt a new strategy after realizing that many of the shows and movies it funded went largely unnoticed by the public.
Eddy Cue, an Apple executive, has been in discussions with studio heads Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht about scaling back production budgets. The two studio leaders have been communicating that the streaming service aims to move away from its image as the industry’s top spender.
Apple’s expenditure has been substantial, with notable investments such as $250 million for the miniseries “Masters of Air,” which received minimal attention upon its release this year. Additionally, the company has allocated over $500 million for films by renowned directors like Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, and Matthew Vaughn.
Despite the high financial outlay, Apple TV+ holds only 0.2% of television viewership in the United States, attracting fewer viewers in a month than Netflix does within just 24 hours. The service has struggled with subscriber growth as well.
While the challenges faced by Apple TV+ do not seem to be causing major concern for the overall company—given that streaming is not a fundamental part of its business—there are indications that the era of unrestricted spending is coming to an end. This is reflected in Apple’s hesitance to renew shows for third seasons.
Notably, Apple TV+ is currently the only major streaming platform without an ad-supported subscription option. However, this may change soon, following the hiring of Joseph Cady, a former ad executive from NBCUniversal, earlier this year.