Having had this since November, I can say I was impressed with the acting in the morning show. But beyond that, if they keep releasing “C” rated movies and shows and at a horrific pace, this will fail miserably.
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Apple TV+ complete failure?
- Thread starter JOHNGAETANO
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I’ve enjoyed many of the shows, Truth be Told, Servant, Home Before Dark, Defending Jacob, See... And probably many more when new shows become available.
I have to say, I enjoyed most of the stuff I've seen so far - even those where I didn't expect I would (The Morning Show, and especially Dickinson!).
So no, for me it's no failure at all.
So no, for me it's no failure at all.
I thought The Morning Show was great and I'm really enjoying Defending Jacob as well. I'm fairly certain Apple are going to up their game soon in terms of boosting their catalogue with old shows as well as release new originals.
Let's assume for a moment that Netflix has only original catalog. While it has much larger selection of original catalog from far more diverse categories, there are far more stinkers. But as a pioneer in original online streaming services, you probably will find something worthwhile.
While Apple TV+ will never catch up to Netflix in terms of quantity, it's up to a good start as far as original catalog is concerned. If you compare only the selection of original catalog to Disney+ that launched at a similar timeframe, I think it's superior even. Aside from Star Wars and Marvel franchises, Disney+'s original catalog is largely a ghost town.
Now let's bring the elephant in the room -- non-original catalog. Disney+ is attractive because it has extensive library of contents from Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, and others. Netflix is attractive because it has many back catalog from other studios.
IMO, Apple doesn't necessarily need to buy expensive companies. Much of Netflix's non-original contents come from smaller and non-US studios.
Meanwhile, Apple's TV app misleads by combing Apple TV+ catalog with contents from other services. Instead of helping, I think this strategy backfired. The design makes it much harder to discover Apple TV+ contents, greatly devaluing its worth.
While Apple TV+ will never catch up to Netflix in terms of quantity, it's up to a good start as far as original catalog is concerned. If you compare only the selection of original catalog to Disney+ that launched at a similar timeframe, I think it's superior even. Aside from Star Wars and Marvel franchises, Disney+'s original catalog is largely a ghost town.
Now let's bring the elephant in the room -- non-original catalog. Disney+ is attractive because it has extensive library of contents from Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, and others. Netflix is attractive because it has many back catalog from other studios.
IMO, Apple doesn't necessarily need to buy expensive companies. Much of Netflix's non-original contents come from smaller and non-US studios.
Meanwhile, Apple's TV app misleads by combing Apple TV+ catalog with contents from other services. Instead of helping, I think this strategy backfired. The design makes it much harder to discover Apple TV+ contents, greatly devaluing its worth.
I would like to add that the mixing of original content and the other stuff tends to confuse some people. They got a year of tv+ for free with their new device, but constantly encounter stuff they have to pay for to view. That’s irritating.
While I do appreciate the idea to pool everything you watch in one place, I still think the concept might benefit from some tweaking - a more distinct separation of original content and third party stuff.
While I do appreciate the idea to pool everything you watch in one place, I still think the concept might benefit from some tweaking - a more distinct separation of original content and third party stuff.
I agree. The only reason I'm going to subscribe to Disney+ when it hits Norway is because of The Simpsons.
I’m with you on showing stuff you don’t have in the TV app. I’m all for the increased visibility of other services, and I love the channels idea - if I could get all my content through Apple’s UI instead of a bunch of different Apps that’d be perfect, but I’d like a tab for browsing only stuff I already have access to, and a different tab for paid stuff.
I can't see it being a success. I have Apple TV+ for free and I've used it maybe 1/2 times?
I honestly can't imagine anyone actually paying for it over, say, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime etc. You can't bring a mediocre product into an already crammed marketplace.
I honestly can't imagine anyone actually paying for it over, say, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime etc. You can't bring a mediocre product into an already crammed marketplace.
A failure in the sense of it ever competing directly with Disney+, HBO, Netflix, Hulu or any of the others pushing 30 million paid subscribers? Probably.
But I think it could still find success in tier 2 when you get to CBS All Access, Peacock, Epix, and others. It doesn’t need to be the best of the best to stick around.
The big question that remains is can they convert any of their 1 year free trial customers to paying customers? That and can they win a primetime Emmy anytime soon? Start winning big awards by the handful and you might break into tier 1.
If I were Apple, I wouldn’t waste much money on filling a library with old content. There are already services that do that better than Apple ever will. Focus on making shows as good as HBO. Especially if you’re playing in the $5 price point you can’t afford to outbid for old content, and it gets harder with a lot of networks taking back their old content for their own service.
But at the end of the day, the Apple TV+ people really took it to the Apple Arcade and Apple News+ people. So they can be proud of that around the office. Apple TV+ is the only one that has a chance at still being around 5 years from now.
But I think it could still find success in tier 2 when you get to CBS All Access, Peacock, Epix, and others. It doesn’t need to be the best of the best to stick around.
The big question that remains is can they convert any of their 1 year free trial customers to paying customers? That and can they win a primetime Emmy anytime soon? Start winning big awards by the handful and you might break into tier 1.
If I were Apple, I wouldn’t waste much money on filling a library with old content. There are already services that do that better than Apple ever will. Focus on making shows as good as HBO. Especially if you’re playing in the $5 price point you can’t afford to outbid for old content, and it gets harder with a lot of networks taking back their old content for their own service.
But at the end of the day, the Apple TV+ people really took it to the Apple Arcade and Apple News+ people. So they can be proud of that around the office. Apple TV+ is the only one that has a chance at still being around 5 years from now.
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I also don't think they should invest in buying old content. As @mnsportsgeek pointed out, there are already multiple services doing that.
But if they keep bringing stuff like For all Mankind, Dickinson, Home before Dark etc., I will subscribe after my free year.
But if they keep bringing stuff like For all Mankind, Dickinson, Home before Dark etc., I will subscribe after my free year.
It’s obvious you haven’t spent any time beyond Morning Show. Almost all of the original content Apple has produced has been excellent. Not sure why people are clamoring for movies that premiered 40 years ago and have already seen 50 times. I think Apple’s approach to original content was a good first step.
I don’t like Apple’s recent push into becoming a creator of original content. It feels wrong. Like a cookware company starting a line of restaurants.
I feel they should focus on what they’ve always been great at: devices and platforms.
I feel they should focus on what they’ve always been great at: devices and platforms.
That has also been said when they entered the music business (iPod, iTunes), the phone business (iPhone) and the wearables business (Watch).
So far, all of this has played out very nicely - for the customers and for Apple themselves.
I don't make a lot of time for TV these days but over the past 6 months since its launch, I've been picking a show to watch every couple of weeks and every show I've watched, I felt like Apple nailed it. Surprisingly good. Hit after hit.
"For All Mankind" is seriously one of my favourite shows in a very long time. Great storyline, incredible acting. "See" started off strong, got a little weird but I can see how this appeals to fans of that genre. "Amazing Stores": I loved it. Total kickback to the 80s show. "Snoopy In Space" is really faithful to the original and a lot of fun. "Home" goes beyond the Interior Design documentary I was expecting. Deep human stories and beautiful cinematography. "Mythic Quest" was totally "not for me" but having heard so much about, and seeing that it's a show that's crossing out of AppleTV+ into Torrenting, I gave it a shot. I couldn't have been more wrong about it: so funny, great story and I sh*t you not, I was cheering by the end of the quarantine episode. So damn good.
I haven't even watched The Morning Show which Apple was pushing the most. Haven't watched any of the movies. With Central Park coming this weekend, Tom Hanks' WWII film, JJ Abrams' shows and The Foundation Series not here yet, this is absolutely not a failure — far from it. We're only 6 months in and I don't think I can keep up with all the content already available, let alone what's still coming.
Looks like you're pretty lonely in your opinion. Theres nothing wrong with your opinion, it's your opinion. I'm not sure what you watch but sounds like AppleTV+ is just not for you.
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Thanks for your quick summary reviews - as someone who just got a free year of ATV+ and have only started watching Defending Jacob (which I've liked a lot with season finale coming this Friday), I've been thinking about other shows to try. As someone who already has Netflix, Prime and Disney+, will be interesting to see how ATV+'s product offering and value proposition evolve over the next year.
Will say one thing, a silver lining of this COVID era for ATV+ is it's giving way more time / eyeballs to ppl to actually try it out, which is probably the hardest thing for any new entrant into this crowded space.
I've noticed people who I know don't have any Apple products seeking out some of the AppleTV+ shows, and some of them are appearing on torrenting forums, most notably Mythic Quest. As much as streaming services like Netflix might hate people pirating their shows, I think that Apple is secretly happy with it. They need pirates to help popularize their shows outside of their usual customers. Those pirates were never going to buy an AppleTV or subscribe to the service anyway.
Other shows that seem to be crossing the Apple fanbase threshold are Defending Jacob and the Fraggle Rock shorts. I've seen people talking about them on social media recently. I've had an Android friend I introduced For All Mankind to and he was pleasantly surprised. He can't wait until season 2 and he doesn't have a single Apple product. I also saw a For All Mankind billboard in my neighbourhood. Apple knows what they're doing.
Apple TV+ is far from a failure. In fact, if they keep pumping high quality content like this, I could easily see people dropping Netflix for Apple TV+ in 2-3 years once there’s enough content. Defending Jacob is amazing and I’m looking forward to some of the other shows that have been announced.
I dropped Netflix some time ago. The only Netflix shows I couldn't live without are Stranger Things and Black Mirror. I like the documentaries and live comedy shows on Netflix but those are replaceable with content elsewhere and new content that Apple can produce. I love the style and cinematography of Home on AppleTV+ and can see more documentaries in that style.
As Netflix loses its upper hand as licensed back content continues to expire and be pulled to their original license owners' own streaming services, I can see Netflix becoming a Channel inside of the AppleTV app so you can add and remove different services as you go through their content.
I’m going to keep Netflix for it’s originals and as a second streaming service I’m sticking with Apple TV+. I have seen almost every single show through it’s entirety on Apple TV+ since the pandemic started and I’ve got to say I feel like everything in this service reminds me of old school HBO.
Is it a huge back catalogue? Absolutely not. But everything on the service has been really enjoyable.
Is it a huge back catalogue? Absolutely not. But everything on the service has been really enjoyable.
Yeah I have to admit not the biggest fan of the app. Def not for 4.99 either. Haven’t used it much at all...