Apple TV+ Reportedly Heading Toward 'Breaking Point' Amid Staffing Problems and Frustrated Content Partners

[Mr. Heckles]

Yep. Sounds about right. Welcome to Tim Cook’s Apple.

He also screwed up Ping. Oh wait, that was Steve Jobs.

 

[Macative]

What marketing? You cut together a trailer and upload it. The marketing is that this appears on the front page of a popular app on a billion devices.

 

[darcyf]

Sounds like growing pains that a smart company like Apple will adapt and learn from. Film and television production is organized chaos, nothing like what Apple is used to managing. But they’ll figure it out. A few years from now you’ll see stories on how Apple TV+ is a dream to work with and everyone wants in.

 

[Boris Bronson]

Where are the usual Macrumors commentators today? AppleTV+ was suppose to beat Netflix and Disney+ and will even outclass HBO. It is the best ever. And Disney+ wont last 12 months.

They will be along soon and referring any dissent for moderation.

 

[Abazigal]

But how that works with something that is entirely different, like a streaming service, I don't know. That should be its own business within a business essentially. It doesn't need Apple's taco bell ingredients (the chips, the recycled software between platforms, etc.). But knowing Apple, I could see them putting their crack App Store Review Team onto the Apple TV Plus service.

I remember reading somewhere that the Apple Music team works with the AirPods team so their music is optimised for streaming to said hardware, while also supporting features like spatial audio. I suspect TV+ has a similar relationship with Apple. For example, their spatial audio support seems to be the best of all the streaming platforms (most notably, Invasion).

So what they probably mean here is that Apple's services are optimised to work best on their hardware, and take advantage of new software features and also integrate with the rest of the ecosystem. Which is basically what we pay for.

 

[jonblatho]

I just don’t get Apple’s insistence on Eddie Cue running anything. Anything this idiot touches turn into ruins. ITunes, Apple Music, now Apple TV? Wasn’t he at the forefront of Beats acquisition, which Apple grossly overpaid?

He is more interested in hanging out with celebrities than running a company. CUE MUST GO!

Between Apple Music and their continuing to sell Beats hardware, they've likely already made their money back in profit or getting close to it. I'd struggle to call that "grossly overpaid."

 

[Ninjaman]

Ha ha Apple TV sucks. Maybe a few good shows and people think it’s the greatest. It’s not. Paying for an Oscar doesn’t make you king of the kingdom. Ha ha ha

 

[Macative]

Apple purportedly wants to make all of Apple TV+'s content itself to avoid reliance on partners

god forbid a partner produces some content that doesn't align perfectly with Apple's messaging.

 

[CWallace]

The streamer's leadership structure is "very flat" and "key departments, like marketing and publicity, don't communicate enough, leaving partners to juggle multiple points of contact."

Apple's overall leadership structure is flat, so no surprise AppleTV+'s will be. This is something I do not expect to change.

Two content executives who have worked with Apple TV+ told Business Insider that the streamer's in-house lawyers lack familiarity with common entertainment law practices and executives are expected to check with bosses before making decisions, which slows down the deal-making and production processes. One executive said that Apple TV+ began streaming a show before a contract was signed, while another said that they had problems simply getting invoices paid.

Also not surprising considering this is a new market for Apple. This can change, however, by hiring legal staff who are fully familiar with the entertainment industry and empowering them.

Other sources said that Apple TV+ has a chaotic approach to marketing, including "disruptive, last-minute marketing planning for projects that have been in the works for months; sloppy press rollouts; landing pages for series that weren't ready in time." "They are still marketing like it's an iPhone, not content," one executive told Business Insider. As a result, details of new projects are tightly controlled and kept secret until the last minute, and content partners get little to no information on how their projects are performing with subscribers. Similar concerns were raised by studio executives speaking to The Information last year.

Secrecy is part of Apple's DNA since 1997 when Steve returned. There have been plenty of articles about how Apple's desire to keep everything quiet until Launch Day runs directly counter to how the Entertainment Industry works. It's going to take time for Apple to loosen up this secrecy culture with their Entertainment division and even as they do, it likely will never be the "open door and windows" that the Entertainment Industry is accustomed to.

A former Apple member of staff said that there is burnout at Apple TV+, partly due to a number of delayed shows moving forward at the same time. "There's going to be a breaking point. People are stretched thin and working too hard," they added.

I wonder how much of this was COVID-related impact, especially in major Entertainment Industry hubs like California, Ontario and British Columbia.

Apple purportedly wants to make all of Apple TV+'s content itself to avoid reliance on partners like Warner Bros., but it does not currently have the resources to do so. The company is said to be hoping to rectify some of the immediate workflow issues by hiring more mid-level content executives to manage cost projections and budgeting.

So on the + side, Apple has identified areas that need improvement and are moving to improve them.

 

[Ninjaman]

sounds like growing pain of a new business, not really untypical, utterly as usual as it's Apple, it's been blown out of proportion

Sure buddy. Keep trying to make apple lol great. A 2 trillion dollar company and people missing paychecks? Ha ha ha ok

 

[JippaLippa]

With the trillions makes, I'm sure they could spend a little more on Apple TV+

 

[nvmls]

That's how Timmey rolls, do the bare minimum and see what sticks while squeezing consumers, we'll see if it lasts.

 

[Macative]

Between Apple Music and their continuing to sell Beats hardware, they've likely already made their money back in profit or getting close to it. I'd struggle to call that "grossly overpaid."

I have hard time associating any of Apple Music's success to Beats.
Apple already had the music distribution market cornered. All they had to do was offer people a subscription. All those other tabs in Apple music for "discovery"? They're worthless. People just want their music, and not have to buy every song.

 

[Macative]

With the trillions makes, I'm sure they could spend a little more on Apple TV+

So they can be Netflix and really start bleeding money?

 

[Macative]

Anything Eddy Cue touches stagnates or turns to sh*t. He was given Siri and it lost ground for years. He was given iCloud and it was underutilized. Apple Music hasn't evolved in meaningful ways. Clearly TV+ is the next one on his long list of accomplishments. It's just amazing for how long he keeps underperforming amidst a group of the world's most qualified and competent executives. When will the Apple board finally say enough is enough?

Steve Jobs was actively trying to turn the iTunes Movie/TV Store into a subscription. He spent years negotiating this. Eddy Cue inevitably took over. It failed, and they pivoted to Apple+. The former is what people wanted. The latter is what we get under Eddy Cue and Tim Cook.

 

[Butler Trumpet]

We have 1 Gb fiber and no issues streaming on other providers, but AppleTV+ periodically buffers multiple times on an Apple TV 4K, even after restarting. I was wondering if the mention of infrastructure is related to this, but perhaps I am the only one?

I don't know the technical specifics behind this, but when I watch AppleTV+ on my LG 4k TV vs Netflix (with paid 4K upgrade) or Disney+, AppleTV+ looks noticeably better. I'm not sure what they are doing on their end, but my hunch is that it's not compressed nearly as much as the others which results in a reliance on more network bandwidth. Again... just guessing.

 

[Macative]

Anything Eddy Cue touches stagnates or turns to sh*t. He was given Siri and it lost ground for years. He was given iCloud and it was underutilized. Apple Music hasn't evolved in meaningful ways. Clearly TV+ is the next one on his long list of accomplishments. It's just amazing for how long he keeps underperforming amidst a group of the world's most qualified and competent executives. When will the Apple board finally say enough is enough?

Don't forget the TV App, which was DOA because they failed to get Netflix on board.

 

[Berti10]

Like everything in modern apple:

„Install it, then leave it until it breaks.“

 

[Edgecrusherr]

I think Apple's entire services devision is severely lacking. Anything they've put Eddie Cue in charge of has been disappointing. I'm not sure he is the common issue, but it's seemed that way for a very long time. I'm all in on most of Apple ecosystem, except their services. I only have Apple Music and Apple TV+ because it was free with my Mac mini, otherwise I'm canceling them when it comes time.

 

[spartan1967]

sounds like growing pain of a new business, not really untypical, utterly as usual as it's Apple, it's been blown out of proportion

People are holding the Apple TV remote the wrong way.

 

[Edgecrusherr]

Don't forget the TV App, which was DOA because they failed to get Netflix on board.

I literally came here to same the same basic thing, glad I'm not alone lol. Eddie is one of the hold overs from the original Steve Jobs dream team (probably the weakest link), that's probably given him some invisibility from getting fired or replaced. It's time for him to retire.

 

[Zorn]

Any links to the article without the greedy paywall?

 

[spcopsmac21]

Apple TV+ is suffering from infrastructure problems and some content partners have become frustrated with the service, Business Insider reports.

Industry sources speaking to Business Insider claim that Apple TV+ lacks "a sufficiently robust infrastructure," resulting in a frustrating corporate culture. The Apple TV+ content team is reportedly under-resourced and has irritated production partners. The streamer's leadership structure is "very flat" and "key departments, like marketing and publicity, don't communicate enough, leaving partners to juggle multiple points of contact."

Two content executives who have worked with Apple TV+ told Business Insider that the streamer's in-house lawyers lack familiarity with common entertainment law practices and executives are expected to check with bosses before making decisions, which slows down the dealmaking and production processes. One executive said that Apple TV+ began streaming a show before a contract was signed, while another said that they had problems simply getting invoices paid.

Other sources said that Apple TV+ has a chaotic approach to marketing, including "disruptive, last-minute marketing planning for projects that have been in the works for months; sloppy press rollouts; landing pages for series that weren't ready in time." "They are still marketing like it's an iPhone, not content," one executive told Business Insider. As a result, details of new projects are tightly controlled and kept secret until the last minute, and content partners get little to no information on how their projects are performing with subscribers. Similar concerns were raised by studio executives speaking to The Information last year.

A former Apple member of staff said that there is burnout at Apple TV+, partly due to a number of delayed shows moving forward at the same time. "There's going to be a breaking point. People are stretched thin and working too hard," they added.

Apple purportedly wants to make all of Apple TV+'s content itself to avoid reliance on partners like Warner Bros., but it does not currently have the resources to do so. The company is said to be hoping to rectify some of the immediate workflow issues by hiring more mid-level content executives to manage cost projections and budgeting. Another source speaking to Business Insider defended that the issues at Apple TV+ are a result of the streamer still being fairly new.

The report comes just days after Apple TV+'s "CODA" won Best Picture at the Academy Awards this year, becoming the first film from a streaming service to ever win the award.

Article Link: Apple TV+ Reportedly Heading Toward 'Breaking Point' Amid Staffing Problems and Frustrated Content Partners

Pay people living wages and stop paying Tim record paychecks. You could replace Tim and hire 10,000 well pod employees and still be the amazing company is today.
What good will all that money do the Uber wealthy when no one wants to work for their money. Or even associate with them.

 

[jamescamali]

Considering how young the platform is comparatively, I think their original content is some of the best out there these days. I'm completely obsessed with Severance. This news is a shame, however, not surprising nor is the timing surprising. Apple likely didn't put a ton of money into the infrastructure until they knew the programming would be a success. Now that they've won Emmy's and an Oscar, someone's PR probably help put this info out there so Apple will actually spend money on the department (not just the content). I'm sure this will be resolved by the EOY.

 

[jamescamali]

We have 1 Gb fiber and no issues streaming on other providers, but AppleTV+ periodically buffers multiple times on an Apple TV 4K, even after restarting. I was wondering if the mention of infrastructure is related to this, but perhaps I am the only one?

I've never had any issues whether using my Apple TV 4K, Apple TV HD or loading the Apple TV+ app on a non-Apple device. I just did it on a Samsung TV at my buddy's house this past weekend. I was sweating bullets that there would be issues, but it played like a charm. Not sure what his speeds were, but mine at home much less than 1GB fiber (I'd do anything for that speed haha). Not sure what kind of issues you're having.