Apple Reportedly Renews 'For All Mankind' and Other Apple TV+ Shows for Second Seasons

[doelcm82]

They undercut all their competitors, which giving away free subs, and Apple most likely couldn't get the subs without doing that.

Apple knows what it is doing here, and they are going for the long haul.

I think Amazon Prime has a pretty good "hook", since many people subscribed for 2-day, and now next-day and same-day, delivery. Same-day delivery is brilliant/insidious. It combines the convenience of shopping from home with near-instant gratification. Getting to watch The Man in the High Castle or The Stinky and Dirty Show is just a welcome bonus.

Most of the others services have had to rely on content (exclusives and others) for the draw.

 

[incoherent_1]

In short, in this day and age, Apple devices are used heavily for watching video — content is the new “software” of this generation and Apple has always created ”the whole widget” from hardware to software. Just like Apple couldn’t let big software companies like Microsoft and its Office suite set the experience for Apple users, today Apple cannot let companies like Netflix dictate the direction, the user interface and the overall experience of using their devices.

A reminder that Netflix will not participate in the Apple TV app. Had Apple not started producing their own TV shows, Netflix could continue pushing Apple around and dictating their terms because Netflix was the only game in town. AppleTV+ is changing that, Disney is changing that. Netflix will have to play Apple’s game if it wants to compete on Apple devices that will increasingly focus content on the TV app. Netflix risks being left out, isolated in its own app.

Secondly, Apple isn’t targeting selling hardware with AppleTV+. They’re deliberately sacrificing AppleTV hardware sales to instead get the most widespread adoption of TV+ worldwide, regardless of which ecosystem you’re in, because it’ll be on every TV, on every TV box and on every computer, tablet and phone. The payoff is that Apple can bundle services like Apple Music which does sell hardware. Spotify cannot compete with a package of Music+TV, simply because they don’t have the resources to produce TV. Apple Music sells iPhones, AirPods and HomePods because all of these offer the native and pure AppleMusic experience.

In closing, Apple needs to have control of the entire experience in order to provide the one they envision, without having to make compromises with content providers. AppleTV+ will pay off in that regard, not to mention how profitable big media conglomerates are on their own.

By this logic, shouldn’t they have started by producing iOS games first?

 

[PickUrPoison]

Based off of some of the comments, it looks like there are people that think that ATV+ and its 9 shows with a few episodes each at launch is a much better library than what Netflix currently has.

I haven't watched any of the ATV+ shows yet of course, maybe they are the best shows ever, but I find it hard that anyone could write off Netflix's amount of content right now.

Some people think the earth is flat ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think it’s a little early to compare the quality of Netflix’s original content to the quality of Apple’s original content, but those who aren’t much interested in Netflix’s original content hold a perfectly valid opinion.

There’s no debate that Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO, Showtime, CBS All-access, Britbox and many others—also soon Disney+, Warners, Peacock, etc.—have a larger catalog than Apple. Hell Kanopy and Hoopla that I get free through my public library have more content than Apple will for many years.

But whether any of those services have content that appeals to any given viewer is another matter altogether. Some will consider Disney+ content “better” than (i.e. a replacement for) Netflix, Hulu, HBO, etc. but without children in the house atm, I wouldn’t.

A friend of mine loves Crunchy Roll; whatever. Content preferences vary greatly, I wouldn’t get too hung up on it.

 

[threesixty360]

Lol. I’m sorry. This makes no sense.

not sure why it makes no sense? A rebuttal of the points would help me understand you better!

 

[siger10k]

How do you redeem a free year of Apple TV+ if you bought an iphone 11 pro max?

 

[SDJim]

Me either.

Outside of tech news, Apple TV+ has been unheard about in my experience. The ATV is also often unheard of, and that has been around for over a decade.

I often discuss streaming services, cord cutting options, movies and tv shows, and streaming boxes with my friends and co-workers, and it seems like very few people have heard of the ATV or the Apple TV+ service.

But they all know about Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Roku, and Fire TV.

This is how almost every conversation about the ATV goes for me:

Co-worker: "do have have a smart tv or streaming box?"

Me: " I use the Apple TV."

Them: "I didn't know they made TVs, is it expensive?"

Me: "it is like a Fire TV."

Them: "Oh."

This is sad, but true! Sad because the Apple TV is so good. I have had to use Fire TV 4K a lot at others' homes and it pales in comparison in features, UI, and especially in Picture quality!

 

[ipedro]

By this logic, shouldn’t they have started by producing iOS games first?

No, because games were never expected to be this successful on a "phone". Tim Cook and even Steve Jobs before him made statements to the effect that they were surprised how popular games got.

Having acknowledged this, Apple is now in fact producing games through collaborations with game developers and the result is Apple Arcade, further proving my point.

 

[wigby]

Will Apple TV+ be available on Roku?

Yes. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019...ginals-from-the-worlds-greatest-storytellers/

 

[DotCom2]

Bought an 11 pro max a couple weeks ago. How would Apple know that if I want to get a year free of Apple TV+?

Don't worry. They will know.
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How do you redeem a free year of Apple TV+ if you bought an iphone 11 pro max?

If you can wait until Nov 1st, you will know.

 

[bpeeps]

I'm sure they renewed them due to overwhelmingly positive reviews from subscribers

Every single network has renewed shows before they've premiered. This is nothing out of the ordinary and just shows your lack of knowledge on the subject.
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Kind of a tossup on what shows to renew and what shows to cancel when all of them have the same number of viewers: 37 (including Tim Cooks mom).

Subscription based services don't rely on viewers as a metric, they rely on how many subscribers they can add to the service. All you guys want to do is take a s*** on Apple TV+, but you don't know the first thing about how television models work. HBO doesn't care if a show has 3 or 30 million viewers, they care about the ratio of production costs to subscriber revenue.
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I really wish Apple would spend more time fixing their buggy operating systems and less time being a 3rd rate tv network.

Ah yes, because the people greenlighting TV shows at Apple are the same people responsible for software QA.

 

[bpeeps]

if Netflix or HBO or some other company decides they want to withhold there service from Apple devices for whatever reason that’s going to effect sales of Apple devices.

Lol what are you even talking about. People don't buy smartphones because they can watch Netflix on it. If Netflix is no longer on Apple devices (which would never happen because Netflix knows that's a completely idiotic idea), people won't watch it on their Apple devices. They'll move to filling that demand on TV's or dumping the service altogether. This would only affect a small niche of uber tech nerds.

 

[bpeeps]

As much as I don’t get ATV+, I actually think this is very smart of them. I don’t get the subscription services that wait until a season is 90% done before renewing, then it’s a 18-24 month wait for another season. Good to get a second one in the pipe so there aren’t huge gaps.

The higher quality of television we're getting is worth the longer waits in between seasons. Very few shows have two year gaps, Westworld and Game of Thrones being the big two exceptions here. Quality television shows take time to write and produce. If you're interested in the type of TV that gets churned out week after week with a short summer break, check out any of the formulaic CBS network shows. Furthermore, a lot of these shows star high profile movie stars. And given how in demand a lot of these actors are, you're going to run into scheduling conflicts. You can only film when all of your actors are available and not contracted for another show or movie.
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Good to know.

IMO, I think the Netflix model is better, but doing the weekly release will be even worse for when Apple’s service is launched.

Unless you rewatch episodes, the service will be useless until the next episode releases.

This will be less of a deal once Apple has a large library, but until then, it will be like there is hardly anything to watch.

How do you think HBO started? With a huge library of tons of shows?

 

[bpeeps]

Lol, does apple think drip feeding shows will make people want it more? While people are waiting for next week's show, they will switch to other video services. Apple thinks people have patience

Can you name another service besides Netflix/Amazon that releases their entire show all at once? HBO, Showtime, Starz, Hulu, broadcast TV, and the majority of all content distributors release episodes weekly. People will do exactly what they've always done waiting week to week for shows. This is a distinction without a cause.

 

[DotCom2]

Netflix is going to report today after the bell. I don't own Netflix stock but still interested to hear their earnings.

 

[bpeeps]

They have almost zero original content worth watching and much of their licensed content will or has left. The party is over for Netflix because the big guys will have a streaming service now.

Disney is also going to hurt Netflix, badly.

Competition is a GOOD thing. What crazy pills is everyone grinding and snorting in this thread!

 

[Baymowe335]

Competition is a GOOD thing. What crazy pills is everyone grinding and snorting in this thread!

Who said it's not?

 

[lunarworks]

Competition is a GOOD thing. What crazy pills is everyone grinding and snorting in this thread!

Another point I'd like to make: With all the whining and complaining that Apple should bring jobs back to America, Apple TV+ is funding productions that employ thousands of Americans. Ever see how long the credits are in TV and movies these days?

 

[threesixty360]

Lol what are you even talking about. People don't buy smartphones because they can watch Netflix on it. If Netflix is no longer on Apple devices (which would never happen because Netflix knows that's a completely idiotic idea), people won't watch it on their Apple devices. They'll move to filling that demand on TV's or dumping the service altogether. This would only affect a small niche of uber tech nerds.

History is a great teacher.
I bet Apple thought the same thing when Adobe and Microsoft didnt want to make software for the mac.
I bet they said "that would never happen, what idiot would withhold software from the mac platform?"
But thats what happened. And apple suffered. Companies in their droves stopped developing for the mac.
In fact, if it wasnt for the ipod, we wouldnt even be having this conversation. Its the ipod that really saved apple.

People wont buy a phone if the key things they use on it are not there. As much as they love apple, if netflix isnt on it and some other key services, then no, apple sales would drop hard. Same as when there was no MS Office on mac. It tanked sales. Netflix, spotify, facebook, instagram are "killer apps". Every platform needs them.

Normally that wont happen because people want the customers apple has. Unless a rival business wants to grow their customers and starts playing games. Disney has already pulled advertising from netflix on its platforms. The war has started here. Apple without any content, any studio buying power etc.. would have a hard time negotiating with netflix and disney going forward.

As i said earlier, this is a defensive play. Apple does not seek to have a business as big as netflix or disney in streaming. It just wants to protect its install base and the best way is to have some content to bargain with.

Apple are going to sell maybe 150-200m devices next year and all of them will have apple tv+ for 1 year. Netflix have 158m customers worldwide. Those are some big numbers.

 

[15ngcs1]

Good to know.

IMO, I think the Netflix model is better, but doing the weekly release will be even worse for when Apple’s service is launched.

Unless you rewatch episodes, the service will be useless until the next episode releases.

This will be less of a deal once Apple has a large library, but until then, it will be like there is hardly anything to watch.

The Morning Show: 3 episodes at once then the rest weekly
Dickinson: 10 (30 mins) episodes all at once
For All Mankind: 3 episodes at once then the rest weekly (every Friday)
Not sure about the others

 

[15ngcs1]

Lol, does apple think drip feeding shows will make people want it more? While people are waiting for next week's show, they will switch to other video services. Apple thinks people have patience

The Morning Show: 3 episodes at once then the rest weekly
Dickinson: 10 (30mins) episodes all at once
For All Mankind: 3 episodes at once then the rest weekly (every Friday)
Not sure about the others
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Will Apple TV+ be available on Roku?

yes

 

[Timothy Leo Crowley]

I really wish Apple would spend more time fixing their buggy operating systems and less time being a 3rd rate tv network.

Yawn. You do understand more than one person works at Apple. The people working on OS issues are not the same working on TV shows? There has been amazing and fast work to fix OS bugs. Maybe you'd be happier buying products from someone else. I'm not having any trouble with any of my apple products. Good luck in your future endeavors.

 

[aksala]

But, when asked about what they pay for and how much, many times they are subscribed to a half dozen or more streaming services, and often paying for Gigabit internet via their ISP, when a lower tier that is have the cost would work.

Then, they wonder why they are not saving that much from cord cutting.

Yeah, good point esp. about not really needing an ultra high bandwidth connection. I forget which, but one of the tech sites out there did a study and showed that you really don't need more than say a 50 Mbps/sec connection or so to satisfy a household of HD streamers. If I can find it I'll update that study here. Sure, it's nice to have a gig or more connection but ultimately the only benefit you're going to see with that is when downloading very large files. For most streaming content and average websites you're really not going to see a difference.

Edit: Ah, I found the study I referenced above which was from the Wall Street Journal. Here's an excerpt:

Peter Loftus, one of our panelists, lives outside Philadelphia and is a Comcast customer with a speed package of 150 megabits a second. Peter's median usage over 35 viewing minutes was 6.9 Mbps, 5% of the capacity he pays for. For the portion when all seven of his streams were going at once, he averaged 8.1 Mbps. At one point, for one second, Peter reached 65% of his capacity. Did his video launch faster or play more smoothly? Not really. The researchers said that to the extent there were differences in video quality such as picture resolution or the time it took to launch a show, they were marginal.


The full article is here.

​

 

[Timothy Leo Crowley]

I'm increasingly pleased with what I hear about the Apple TV offerings. It's kind of funny to see all the negative nancy types slamming shows that they haven't seen.
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It’s a company with finite resources. Using those resources to play tv station is a waste of time, money, and good will with customers who are getting subpar products.

it would be easier and more useful to buy products you like than spending time complaining about things you can't control. In the meantime, millions of us are thrilled with the products apple produces.

 

[incoherent_1]

The higher quality of television we're getting is worth the longer waits in between seasons. Very few shows have two year gaps, Westworld and Game of Thrones being the big two exceptions here. Quality television shows take time to write and produce. If you're interested in the type of TV that gets churned out week after week with a short summer break, check out any of the formulaic CBS network shows. Furthermore, a lot of these shows star high profile movie stars. And given how in demand a lot of these actors are, you're going to run into scheduling conflicts. You can only film when all of your actors are available and not contracted for another show or movie.
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How do you think HBO started? With a huge library of tons of shows?

Haha I love the standard MR assumption that if you disagree with someone, the other person must be “uninformed”.

Back on topic, Altered Carbon, The Orville, and Man in the High Castle are all streaming shows that have had prolonged gaps. I think it’s wise of Apple to try to avoid those — feel free to disagree.

 

[incoherent_1]

No, because games were never expected to be this successful on a "phone". Tim Cook and even Steve Jobs before him made statements to the effect that they were surprised how popular games got.

Having acknowledged this, Apple is now in fact producing games through collaborations with game developers and the result is Apple Arcade, further proving my point.

Exactly — they’re collaborating with existing successful game developers, not opening their own game production shop. There’s a huge difference.

Apple has been deeply invested in music going back to the iPod, but they didn’t open a music label to compete with the major companies. Why? There are plenty of record labels out there — big and small — and there’s little-to-no mass demand for another actor in that sphere.

Apple TV+ feels like that to a lot of people here, myself included: confusing, unexpected, and Apple playing in a sphere because they can, not because they can disrupt the market or add significant value.