Exactly, and not just Apple TV+, maybe advertise their actual shows and create engagement on social media for them. When Silo was out, I LOVED it, and tried to share it on social media...they didn't even have a page for it so there was no way to tag or for people watching the show to create the interest they obviously need.
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Apple TV+ Curbs Costs After Expensive Projects Fail to Capture Viewers
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Exactly, and not just Apple TV+, maybe advertise their actual shows and create engagement on social media for them. When Silo was out, I LOVED it, and tried to share it on social media...they didn't even have a page for it so there was no way to tag or for people watching the show to create the interest they obviously need.
Their new content has been flat-ish, redundant, not interesting. I'd prefer they focus on re-tooling the UX/UI of the TV app, which is a bit of a dumpster fire. I think it worked better when the sections were in separate apps (Store, TV, etc).
I don't use the app on my phone, but on the Apple TV it's been getting better slowly. I am constantly sending them things I'd like to see, and some of them they actually implement.
I like the new side menu with all my channels/streaming services to separate them. I don't like the up next, really. I wish they would separate that to continue watching and up next being the things you added to watch later. The ones I add to watch later get lost in what I'm currently watching, and then I just forget. lol.
Leave Foundation alone, it's sooo good. May it never end
Well, S4 is coming out in September. Somehow they manage to pump out a new season every 6-8 months, which begs the question "what the heck happened with Severance?" (Jackson Lamb could put it more succinctly...
) Slow Horses isn't exactly an intergalactic FX fest but all of that location shooting around London can't be particularly cheap or simple. I guess Slow Horses is a UK production and escaped the writers' strike, but that excuse is starting to wear a bit thin for Severance. Whatever the reason, Severance has completely blown its initial momentum - if you have to wait years between seasons of a show with complex ongoing plots then you'll have to re-watch the first season to get back in to it - which is the point that many people just won't get around to.
The other great thing about Slow Horses is that each season tells a complete story. Sure, there are ongoing threads and teasers for future seasons - but the main plot is wrapped up at the end of each season. If it does get cancelled you may be left wanting more, but you're nit going to be left hanging.
So many new shows finish the season mid-plot without any real resolution - people are not going to bother starting a new show until it's got a few seasons under its belt without being cancelled. Its no good just cancelling lots of shows - they need to start fewer shows and commit to them a bit more.
Marketing could really help here. Play trailers for different shows/movies every time I open the app, like Netflix does, at the very least.
Apple is scaling back its Hollywood spending after investing over $20 billion in original programming with limited success, Bloomberg reports.
This shift comes after the streaming service, which launched in 2019, struggled to capture a significant share of the market, accounting for only 0.2% of TV viewership in the U.S., compared to Netflix's 8%. Despite heavy investment, critical acclaim, and numerous award nominations, Apple TV+ purportedly generates less viewing in one month than Netflix does in a single day.
Over the last five years, the Apple TV+ has had only four series make Nielsen's weekly list of the ten most popular original streaming shows. While Ted Lasso was the most-watched streaming show of 2023, Apple TV+ still accounts for a smaller share of top ten hits than any streaming service except Paramount+.
Apple's initial foray into streaming was marked by lavish spending on high-profile projects and talent, including deals with big names like Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, and Jennifer Aniston. The company's Hollywood operation, led by studio chiefs Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, positioned itself as a talent-friendly destination, reminiscent of HBO, offering creators seemingly unlimited financial resources.
Apple spent more than $500 million combined on movies from directors Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, and Matthew Vaughn, and upwards of $250 million on the World War II miniseries Masters of the Air. Despite the strong reviews and awards nominations, these projects have not yielded the viewership that Apple apparently hoped for.
The company's new strategy is said to involve tighter budget controls and a more cautious approach to spending. This includes paying less upfront for shows, being quicker to cancel underperforming series, and delaying productions to manage costs better. For instance, the production of the sci-fi series Foundation was postponed to prevent budget overruns caused by delays related to the 2023 actors and writers strikes.
The cost of the second season of Severance surged to over $20 million per episode due to pandemic-related delays, internal conflicts, and additional expenses such as hiring House of Cards creator Beau Willimon for script contributions. Management has asked the producers of Severance to reduce the budget for future seasons, emphasizing the need for financial sustainability.
Apple has also become more selective in acquiring new projects, declining to buy some shows that sellers believe the company would have accepted just a few years ago. The company allegedly wants to shed the image of being Hollywood's biggest spender and bring more discipline and strategy to its content investments.
While still willing to invest heavily in certain high-profile projects, such as The Morning Show, where cast salaries alone exceed $50 million for the upcoming season, Apple TV+ is becoming more fiscally conservative. The Morning Show stars Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon will each earn more than $2 million per episode. This recalibration comes at a time when other major studios like Disney, Warner Bros., and Paramount are similarly cutting back on streaming budgets due to mounting losses.
Article Link: Apple TV+ Curbs Costs After Expensive Projects Fail to Capture Viewers
HBO with Apple's financial backing would have been elite. More people need to see shows like Barry, Hacks, Watchmen, Sharp Objects, True Detective (S1) and countless others. Or just add Max to an Apple TV+ subscription.
I like a lot of Apple's stuff and really respect their Sci-Fi efforts but even some of their best shows feel a bit off/flat or having that 'AI created feel' (Severance aside).
Didn't realise the salaries for The Morning Show are ridiculous, surprised it wasn't cancelled after the weird and less interesting second season.
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Totally agree with this post! Apple is spreading themselves too thin...need to focus on what they know best...hardware and software!!
Totally agree. My take is that the studios don't want to pay the Actors or Production Co.s for longer seasons.
Just squeeze the subscribers for a few months then have them waiting for more episodes that might be 1-2 yrs off.
They did change some things, but I thought season 2 was a vast improvement. I’ll resubscribe to TV+ for the third season
liked to loved most of everything i've watched on ATV+ (not you tho, masters of the air 😒).
that said, with modern day complex storylines and plot arcs that aren't resolved in a season, weekly drops don't work for me in a post-netflix era. the only way i watch shows these days are like watching a veryyyy long movie in one weekend... and i wouldn't pay a subscription to a theater to come watch a movie.
that said, with modern day complex storylines and plot arcs that aren't resolved in a season, weekly drops don't work for me in a post-netflix era. the only way i watch shows these days are like watching a veryyyy long movie in one weekend... and i wouldn't pay a subscription to a theater to come watch a movie.
I'm glad to hear that Apple TV is in trouble. It was always set up as a money grab. The interface is atrocious, complicated, doesn't run well in a browser. The content is so/so. The thought they can buy the audience by contracting big names for ridiculous amounts of money and by that made an already money driven industry even worse. Netflix series were successful in the beginning because they had good creative content and for the most part unknown but good actors that are affordable. Apple choose to have mostly mainstream uninteresting content and tried to compensate with big names or with some pseudo artsy shows to appeal to a pseudo intellectual audience. The foundation series is a notable exemption and is the only reason I have a subscription for 1-2 month per year to binge watch this show. I'm afraid , as often with big corporations, they will cut the creative interesting shows first and double down on the big names because that's what uninspired managers in media usually do. [rant over, crazy unshaved old man stepping of the soap box now and having a drink....]
They should have purchased Paramount to get that library of content, and then add extra content of their own to watch. I like a few shows before they turn sour, but the only reason I stick around for Netflix is the back catalogue of diverse and old content that i still enjoy for a rewatch.
PARA holder, so I know the suffering.
PARA holder, so I know the suffering.
The market has become supersaturated with shows that necessitates Apple to come up with something extraordinary just to get folks to watch something... Apple should either just butt out or reconsider the whole strategy centered on streaming...
what a massive waste of money and poor strategic decision making. Striving to become the best platform for media including music, movies, books, etc. makes perfect sense. All the rest is just a massive cash burn and not part of the core business (and never should be).
20 billion?!? It is the greatest time to be in Hollywood with everyone making shows. Wow what a colossal waste most of this programming is.
However the 3D for the Vision Pro is extraordinary.
However the 3D for the Vision Pro is extraordinary.
It's sort of staggering, isn't it?
The amount of useful things that could be done with 20 BILLION ... and instead it's flushed into a bunch of mostly mid video "content" in hopes of hooking people on a subscription
Almost like what legacy cable TV used to be. It's funny how the public cried for the ability to purchase what they wanted a la carte but then when the public gets it, nobody really likes it. Myself included.
The only thing I really like about the current "future" is the App nature of it (device options and portability) and the lack of contracts.
I think many people were actually quite happy with the actual "product" of Cable TV ... it just got way too expensive and onerous
..and in the last 15 years has really filled up with total and complete garbage content on many channels.
When "The Weather Channel" turned into reality TV shows and almost no "Weather", one knew it was going in a bad direction
Me too. Also wish they'd expand their baseball offering (or include other sports). I suspect if they used some of their content development $$ to up their offering price for game rights to the various sports league, they'd drive more subscribers.
Right?
It's crazy to me they aren't pouring cash into sports
Live sports is the proven single thing that gets folks watching in massive numbers and usually live (which advertisers LOVE)
20 billion buys a LOT of sports rights
This thread is rife with the same problem that many discussions here on MR has: too many people way too confident in their own opinions. So many think "If I don't like it, nobody likes it." This thread alone should disabuse many of you of that opinion; every show mentioned seems to have lovers and haters. Singular opinions have no way of knowing what will and won't work at a large scale.
Additionally, so many of you then take your opinion to mean "quality." As if Apple TV+ just did what you like, it would be a smash hit.
But the truth is that some level of low brow is likely what carries most of the streaming minutes on these services. For example, the top streaming show of 2023 was Suits! A show that hasn't had a new season for 4 years. And I don't think anyone would confuse suits as top quality entertainment; that's not to say it doesn't have its merits. It wasn't cutting edge, it wasn't indy. It was safe, predictable tv.
And I'm guessing Apple simply won't do Reality TV, which seems to be the main fare of many streaming services.
But the bottom line is the "I prefer X so Apple should do more of X" isn't a valid argument.
Additionally, so many of you then take your opinion to mean "quality." As if Apple TV+ just did what you like, it would be a smash hit.
But the truth is that some level of low brow is likely what carries most of the streaming minutes on these services. For example, the top streaming show of 2023 was Suits! A show that hasn't had a new season for 4 years. And I don't think anyone would confuse suits as top quality entertainment; that's not to say it doesn't have its merits. It wasn't cutting edge, it wasn't indy. It was safe, predictable tv.
And I'm guessing Apple simply won't do Reality TV, which seems to be the main fare of many streaming services.
But the bottom line is the "I prefer X so Apple should do more of X" isn't a valid argument.
I was thinking this exact same thing lately. Whenever we're looking for something to watch we check Netflix, Max, Prime and AppleTV. But AppleTV really seems to have weird 'vibe' to most of the original content. It's not 'bad'. It's just… kinda boring. Not all the titles, obviously, but a whole lot of them. Zero interest from our family, who all like different things.