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Bloomberg: Apple to Buy Older Shows for TV+ in Bid to Challenge Netflix

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Apple is purchasing older movies and shows for its TV+ streaming service in a bid to build a back catalog of content that puts it in a better position to rival the huge libraries available on Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+, reports Bloomberg.

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The company's video-programming executives have taken pitches from Hollywood studios about licensing older content for TV+ and have bought some shows and movies, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Apple reportedly plans to keep its television streaming service focused on original shows, and hasn't bought any huge franchises or blockbusters for its back catalog, according to sources cited in the report. Nevertheless, it's a statement of intent from Apple and an acknowledgement that successful streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ tend to have a mix of old and new shows to keep audiences coming back.

Netflix for example has thousands of titles that viewers can choose from, while Apple TV+ currently has fewer than 30 original movies and shows in its catalog. As the report notes, however, at $4.99 per month, Apple TV+ costs half the price of a standard Netflix subscription.

Another advantage Apple TV+ has over its rivals is that it's free for a year for anyone who buys an Apple device, and students who have a student subscription to ?Apple Music? for $4.99 per month can also get access to ?Apple TV?+ at no additional charge, so the company can expose viewers to its television service before they even sign up.

Apple has so far avoided buying rights to old shows, and has instead looked to host individual services through its TV app in the form of Apple TV Channels, which include the likes of HBO, Starz, SHOWTIME, and EPIX. However, according to Bloomberg's sources, this approach has yielded mixed results.
Though about 10 million people had signed up for TV+ by February, only about half that number actively used the service, according to the people familiar with the matter.
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Compare that to Disney+, which signed up over 10 million users on the day it launched in the U.S. and has since attracted over 50 million subscribers. Netflix meanwhile has 182.8 million subscribers globally, making it one of the world's largest entertainment services, and the company added nearly 16 million customers in the first quarter of this year.
Today's news suggests something of a turnaround for the company's plans for Apple TV+. During Apple's February shareholder meeting, CEO Tim Cook was asked why Apple didn't make an effort to get the rights to the upcoming Friends reunion show that will be airing on HBO Max.

Cook said that recycled content is "not what Apple TV+ is about." ?Apple TV?+ is "about original programming," he said. "It doesn't feel right for Apple to just go out and take a rerun."

Article Link: Bloomberg: Apple to Buy Older Shows for TV+ in Bid to Challenge Netflix
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/05/19/apple-to-buy-older-shows-apple-tv-plus/
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Considering you get a year free with purchase of a iOS or macOS device it is good value so far. But with the limited amount of content I would not pay a subscription.

If Apple manages to make a deal for older shows and movies I hope they will be able to ensure it being somewhat like their own production in terms of download to watch later.
 
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Oh God they've given up already 😂

In all seriousness, it would take a massive feat to even compete with Netflix, let alone overtake them. They can't even get their naming/app conventions right. Why can I access some Apple TV 'Channels' on the Apple TV, but not on my Mac's Apple TV app? Why is their app the same name as the device?

I just don't think Apple TV really solves anything, but is just becoming another cable box where it's all grand 'searching' for content, but then find out you have to purchase a whole bunch of subscriptions to watch them from different services.
 
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I would not pay a single dollar for the current Apple TV+. I like the idea, but if it has only one hundredth of the content other platforms have, it should cost no more than one hundredth of their cost. So at the moment it’s worth less than one dollar a year, which means it’s priced at least 60 times more than it is worth.
 
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Just go the usual way. But intellectual property and streaming rights for some movies and create “prequel” series (Superman and others come to mind). Or use the “first look” deal with Scott Free to do pretty much the same. Like “how did blade runner become blade runner?”. Something along these lines. So you would have the movies and a TV series that expands it.
Ah, yes, DROP THE PG13 only nonsense. Thank you.
 
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PalNova said:
Why don't they just buy Disney? ;)
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Because with the current pandemic situation, only Disney’s video streaming service shows promise while their other businesses like cruises and theme parks are incurring heavy losses?

Disney also recently elected not to issue a dividend and carried out another round of bond issue, suggesting that they are starting to run short of cash.

This pandemic has laid bare Disney’s weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Apple simply has no use for large portions of Disney’s business, which are predicated on people leaving their homes, and which share little synergy with Apple’s business model.
 
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JamonBull said:
They’re gonna need to redesign their Apple TV+ app then. So confusing to navigate around.
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Agree! My partner and I watch ATV+ every night and we spend time trying to navigate the terrible UI
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il_teo77 said:
Just go the usual way. But intellectual property and streaming rights for some movies and create “prequel” series (Superman and others come to mind). Or use the “first look” deal with Scott Free to do pretty much the same. Like “how did blade runner become blade runner?”. Something along these lines. So you would have the movies and a TV series that expands it.
Ah, yes, DROP THE PG13 only nonsense. Thank you.
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What PG13 nonsense? There are several shows on ATV+ service that are R.
 
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gnasher729 said:
Just a billion dollars. Apple can have a back catalog twice the size of Netflix' within a week if they want to.
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Sure, but then one must consider all the accompanying marketing and time it would take for Apple to actually make people aware of their service.

This for me is the big sticking point - they would need to work exceptionally hard to make it clear what Apple TV actually is after all this time.
 
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GreenLightLuke said:
Agree! My partner and I watch ATV+ every night and we spend time trying to navigate the terrible UI
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What PG13 nonsense? There are several shows on ATV+ service that are R.
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Ok. Seems we are both right. And it also seems that the rating in the US is much stricter than in other countries. In my country no AppleTV+ show is rated above "12". Germany is the closest to our rating I could find.

See: rated 12 (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7949218/parentalguide?ref_=tt_stry_pg)
Servant: rated 12 (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8068860/parentalguide?ref_=tt_stry_pg)


Whereas, for instance,

Altered Carbon: rated 16 (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2261227/parentalguide?ref_=tt_stry_pg)
 
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PalNova said:
Why don't they just buy Disney? ;)
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A hostile takeover of ViacomCBS would be much cheaper than Disney. Apple would have an instant catalog and be able to merge two streaming services.

REGARDLESS, they HAVE to clear up the confusing nomenclature
- Apple TV+ (most people don't say 'plus) - the streaming service
- Apple TV - the IOS app
- Apple TV - the Mac app
- Apple TV - the set-top device
- Apple TV - the app for Apple TV and other TVs?
 
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It is kind of weird that Tim said that statement Lol. Did he really think that ATV+ would survive on original content alone? Eh.

They HAVE to redesign the app. It really is unacceptably poorly laid out. I hope they rename the actual ATV box this year too.

Other than that... ATV+ is pretty great. The shows are high quality and it seems like there’s a lot more to come.
 
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