Apple recognizes it has been overspending on TV shows and movies that have largely gone unnoticed.
The company is reevaluating its strategy for Apple TV+ after investing approximately $20 billion in original content, according to Bloomberg.
Apple executive Eddy Cue has been in discussions with Apple TV+’s studio chiefs Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht about cutting back on budgets. Van Amburg and Erlicht have also reportedly been communicating to others that the streamer aims to lose its reputation as the industry’s biggest spender.
Apple has allocated substantial funds for certain productions, such as $250 million for the miniseries “Masters of Air,” which garnered limited attention upon its release this year.
Moreover, the company has spent over $500 million on films from high-profile directors like Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, and Matthew Vaughn, Bloomberg reported.
Despite the heavy spending, Apple TV+ currently holds just 0.2% of TV viewership in the US and garners fewer views in a month than Netflix does in a single day. The platform has also faced challenges in growing its subscriber base.
While these issues do not seem to overly concern Apple, given that streaming is not central to its business model, the era of unchecked spending appears to be ending. This shift was already apparent in the company’s hesitation to renew shows for third seasons, based on Bloomberg’s data.
Apple TV+ remains the only major streaming service without an ad-supported tier. However, this is likely to change following the company’s hiring of Joseph Cady, an advertising executive formerly with NBCUniversal, earlier this year.