MLB season pass is worthless with local blackouts and the deals MLB signed with local providers. I get free MLB season pass with Tmobile, but most of the local games are blacked out. Surprisingly thanks to Apple TV I get Friday night games.
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Apple TV+ and Sports Business Exec Leaves Company
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This is true. However, regional sports networks are collapsing, with AT&T and others getting out, probably but the end of the year. While MLB will probably want to keep games on local cable (especially for older fans) they could double up on some streaming service, also.
I’m a Pittsburgh Pirates fan and I lived in Columbus, Ohio for a while. When Season Pass was released I jumped on it to watch the Pirates. But I was considered in the region and was blacked out. To make matters worse, I was also blacked out on Reds and Indians games. That service is a joke.
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This explains a lot. Hulu’s interface was very user hostile while he was there, and has gotten better the last couple years. Meanwhile he’s been at Apple and the TV app has gotten more user hostile. Hopefully this is a sign that they will fix it soon.
Apple TV+ is kinda a crap also-ran in the streaming market right now, not seeing a lot of greatness from this division…
Yep. I get it for free, but would never buy it. It’s the same in South Ga, they black out Braves and TB Rays. MLB needs to figure out this mess, especially the Bally Sports south wants 15-20 bucks a month.
I don’t know what it’s like in the rest of the world but I have heard a handful of adverts for Apple TV+ when listening to domestic radio stations here in the UK (via the Music app).
Sorry to see you go, Tim Cook! Best wishes for your new ventures at Google. I've never heard of them, but I hope they eventually make something of themselves with your help.
glad you clarified that the problem is with the advertising (or lack thereof) for their content, rather than its quality—I was gonna mention how several ATV+ shows just won Peabody awards…and it’s sad how little I see these shows outside Apple’s “bubble,” so to speak
Maybe, but he wasn’t a part-time retail worker in Kansas. He was a couple spots away from Cue. That has some significance.
ExpressVPN is a great partner for that free MLB.tv subscription... (seriously, it works flawlessly)
OK, so one of two things are happening:
1. Stock options are maturing all at once.
2. Something is spooking lots of people at senior levels in Apple.
I think if (1) were true then not only would somebody have pointed it out (although reporting into Apple news topics can tend to be *cough* a little less than thorough). Also, I can't believe Apple would let the options mature all at once and risk losing so many execs in such a short time frame.
So, (2) seems most likely. Whatever it is, it's probably going to be announced at WWDC soon. And it almost certainly is an ill-advised foray into AR and VR.
And MacRumors has already pointed out that presentations of the headset amongst execs at Apple has not gone well.
The good news? These execs might be wrong. Apple's AR/VR might be a huge success. But Apple doesn't tend to employ stupid people. They get the smartest. These execs are seeing the writing on the wall—an immature product without any good USPs, pushed out because Tim Cook is likely vacating his role in the coming years and wants a legacy.
The key thing to remember is that isn't just a product launch. Apple's attempting to create a whole new market segment here, in terms of wearable, everyday AR/VR.
I think that's the real issue. Apple can take the hit of a product misfiring. They've done this many times in the past (e.g. trashcan Mac Pro).
But Apple right now, and for the first time in decades, is not inhabiting a nascent product segment.
All its product lines – Mac, phones, tablets, wearables – are mature. All Apple has done is iterate on these.
Sure, Apple can expand into new markets like India. Financial products? Yeah, why not. That'll keep revenue bubbling along. But Apple's growth has always been based on innovation in product design. That's Apple in a nutshell.
I think this is what those execs are realising is missing. Even worse, this kind of thing takes years. So, even if Apple piled resources into this now, it would still be playing catch-up for 5-10 years. Apple has dropped the ball, very badly.
1. Stock options are maturing all at once.
2. Something is spooking lots of people at senior levels in Apple.
I think if (1) were true then not only would somebody have pointed it out (although reporting into Apple news topics can tend to be *cough* a little less than thorough). Also, I can't believe Apple would let the options mature all at once and risk losing so many execs in such a short time frame.
So, (2) seems most likely. Whatever it is, it's probably going to be announced at WWDC soon. And it almost certainly is an ill-advised foray into AR and VR.
And MacRumors has already pointed out that presentations of the headset amongst execs at Apple has not gone well.
The good news? These execs might be wrong. Apple's AR/VR might be a huge success. But Apple doesn't tend to employ stupid people. They get the smartest. These execs are seeing the writing on the wall—an immature product without any good USPs, pushed out because Tim Cook is likely vacating his role in the coming years and wants a legacy.
The key thing to remember is that isn't just a product launch. Apple's attempting to create a whole new market segment here, in terms of wearable, everyday AR/VR.
I think that's the real issue. Apple can take the hit of a product misfiring. They've done this many times in the past (e.g. trashcan Mac Pro).
But Apple right now, and for the first time in decades, is not inhabiting a nascent product segment.
All its product lines – Mac, phones, tablets, wearables – are mature. All Apple has done is iterate on these.
Sure, Apple can expand into new markets like India. Financial products? Yeah, why not. That'll keep revenue bubbling along. But Apple's growth has always been based on innovation in product design. That's Apple in a nutshell.
I think this is what those execs are realising is missing. Even worse, this kind of thing takes years. So, even if Apple piled resources into this now, it would still be playing catch-up for 5-10 years. Apple has dropped the ball, very badly.
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I doubt the NFL deal would have had any bearing on this decision. Apple wanted something along the lines of their MLS deal and that is just not possible with the NFL's media deal structure. NFL's latest 11-year TV deal with the major US networks and Amazon clocked in at $113 billion dollars - even Apple can't throw that kind of cash around.
And perhaps these people are not leaving Apple in disgrace for failing to succeed, but are instead being head-hunted by other companies because they have succeeded in what Apple set out for them to do? As @roar08 noted, Apple's organizational structure is relatively flat with the entire senior management team generally having input in everything, rather than a siloed system where each product or service has their own unique senior management structure. So while each product and services group has a general manager, the bench is deep enough that they can be replaced as needed and Apple therefore does not have to get into "bidding wars" to retain talent below the senior C-suite level.
And perhaps these people are not leaving Apple in disgrace for failing to succeed, but are instead being head-hunted by other companies because they have succeeded in what Apple set out for them to do? As @roar08 noted, Apple's organizational structure is relatively flat with the entire senior management team generally having input in everything, rather than a siloed system where each product or service has their own unique senior management structure. So while each product and services group has a general manager, the bench is deep enough that they can be replaced as needed and Apple therefore does not have to get into "bidding wars" to retain talent below the senior C-suite level.
OK, let's put this into a corporate perspective.
Apple has repeatedly said they're not caught up in the downsizing that's hit other tech firms like Microsoft and Google.
But they are feeling the pinch, certainly. Mac sales are down. I'm not convinced the media services like Apple TV, Fitness, News etc have the take-up Apple expected, either, given that Apple seems to give away Apple TV subscriptions everywhere (I've had many trials of things like Apple TV, Music, and News since they started and never paid for them! This is basically a way to pump up the subscription numbers to create confidence.).
it's entirely possible that Apple is offering what, in the UK, we call voluntary redundancy. I'm unsure of the US term for this, but essentially it's where the workforce is told that if they want to leave then nobody will object and they'll be given a good severance package. It's often the step before large-scale layoffs.
However, if this were the case, then it would almost certainly have been reported somewhere in the media. And it hasn't been.
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You usually don't start that kind of "soft downsizing" with top executives, if he was asked to leave it was about the performance of his division, not a quiet downsizing effort