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

[anakin44011]

Anyone else having trouble even finding the damn Apple+ content on an Apple TV?

There's an irony that the remote has so few buttons, but it requires so many clicks and swipes to actually get to the next episode of an Apple TV+ show I'm watching.

 

[newyorksole]

I have watched The Morning Show only... Anything else recommended from Apple TV+?

I’m a fan of SEE, Servant and am currently watching Defending Jacob. TMS is my favorite of them all though.

 

[JLL]

It would help if Apple wouldn’t insist on throwing their own original content mixed together with stuff that you have to pay for by movie / episode. Same with News+. It’s just too inconvenient to find their own stuff that you can access with a subscription. Don’t know why they insist on this

Go into the ATV+ channel, and you'll only see ATV+ content.

The ATV app is supposed to show everything from every channel and iTunes Store, and I suspect that it's confusing to many because they chose to have an Apple TV+ service in an Apple TV app on an Apple TV box.

 

[MoreRumors?]

Apple have to build up their library and can't rely solely on original content if they want to complete. It's not easy to create multiple original content, they can just ask the major networks. Apple may offer free service for a year but retaining is important when the service is over. The cost of $4.99 is really not a good deal considering the limited content and I'd rather get Disney+ for about the same or a little more.

 

[Sandstorm]

The only way I'll continue using Apple TV+ is if they continue adding free time with every new Apple device (like most here, of course, I usually buy several new Apple devices per year anyway).

 

[and 1989 others]

Who remembers when Apple tried to create their own social network via iTunes, Ping? Going up against the fledgling facebook, the established Myspace and bebo.

Apple TV+ is the same thing. Except they have spent billions trying take down the Goliath of Netflix and the cult following of 3 generations of Adoring Disney fans.

 

[G4DPII]

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.

This whole post is pure drivel.

Disney make 30% from the parks etc. Everything else is from merchandise and people sitting on their fat backsides.

What are people doing more of at this moment?

 

[dugbug]

buy criterion collection

 

[Abazigal]

This whole post is pure drivel.

Disney make 30% from the parks etc. Everything else is from merchandise and people sitting on their fat backsides.

What are people doing more of at this moment?

The entire goal of Disney+ is to drive customers to their theme parks and create new merchandising opportunities. While their theme parks make up just under 40% of their earnings right now, I believe that Disney’s end game is to make this segment that biggest revenue and profit driver.

This is why Disney is willing to price Disney+ so aggressively (for all its subscribers, it’s streaming service likely will continue losing billions of dollars for the near foreseeable future), because they expect to earn it all back from their resorts sector, which is still closed at the moment, and will likely suffer from reduced crowds in the short run while the current pandemic runs its course.

In this context, Disney will never spin off their video streaming service, and honestly, what is Apple going to do with theme parks and Star Wars merchandise?

 

[DNichter]

I like Apple TV+ (Morning Show, See, Servant, Defending Jacob, Mythic Quest, and Little America were all good) and don't find the UI difficult at all. It still surprises me that people really have that much trouble finding content, it's literally right there.

 

[theluggage]

REGARDLESS, they HAVE to clear up the confusing nomenclature

...but they're only copying Amazon Prime...

(...which seems to be "Amazon Prime Video" - the individual movie/TV sales and rental service, vs, "Amazon Prime" content that you get bundled with a Prime subscription vs. prime video channels which are extra subscriptons... )

Except, with Amazon, you know what you're getting into and that *you* are the product. I'd expect better of Apple...

As for buying 'old content' - I suspect that it wasn't exactly 'Plan A', but that the infernal virus has been a particular disaster for Apple TV+. The original plan seemed to be that after a year or two of relying on 'free' subscriptions in which to build up enough original shows to have something that people would pay for. Now, the new shows are all delayed and many people have been watching more TV so they'll have 'finished' Apple TV+.

 

[2010mini]

Better off buying a studio so they own their catalog. Licensing content is a messy undertaking.

 

[Gorms]

Mythic Quest and The Beastie Boys Story we’re both A++ for me, but agree they’ve missed the boat here. Who is left to buy? They *should* have gone all in and bought Fox last year, but now?

 

[now i see it]

Gilligan's Island here we come

 

[The Phazer]

I wonder who they would buy premium content from. It seems like every company that has premium content is already setting up their own streaming service.

Sony, Paramount, Anna Pura, Lionsgate, to some extent MGM, Entertainment One, Canal (outside of France), and a lot of major TV companies (BBC Worldwide, Endemol Shine, All3, etc etc).

There are plenty of companies selling TV, the problem is that there libraries are now in a bidding war between local broadcasters, Netflix, Amazon and some of the other services like HBO Max and Peacock. Apple is going to have to spend a lot of money (five to ten times what they've spent on Apple TV so far) if they want to win those battles. And they're a bit late to the party for some popular shows.

 

[johnnytravels]

Let’s face it, Apple as a company has become too big and inflexible to ever again create a brand new market for anything. And too much in the hands of the stock market to ever again come out with another product that requires a heavy financial investment to be able to capture a relevant segment of an existing market.

Maybe with the exception of the Airpods (although they have obviously been designed to solve a problem that Apple themselves have created), they have been exuding stagnation with everything that has been released in the past couple of years (of course this does not mean that they have released inherently bad products).

By no means does that mean that Apple is in danger or likely to fail, at least as long as their stuff continues to sell well, which it will for quite some time. But they‘d need a complete policy change and risk losing stock value for a while in order to accomplish any actual. Unlikely that anyone currently in charge at Apple would take such a risk.

 

[The Phazer]

Just a billion dollars. Apple can have a back catalog twice the size of Netflix' within a week if they want to.

Netflix are spending $15 billion a year, and they're far from the only people Apple need to compete with. So far Apple are spending less than $2 billion. If they want to catch up they need to spend very, very significantly, and it's hard to see where the revenue to justify that is going to come from.

 

[loekf]

I have watched The Morning Show only... Anything else recommended from Apple TV+?

For all mankind, but I'm a space nerd and SpaceX groupie.

Frankly, after watching For all mankind, a few episodes of The Morning Show and that show about humans turned blind I haven't watched AppleTV+ in a long time. There's not enough content.

 

[Abazigal]

Let’s face it, Apple as a company has become too big and inflexible to ever again create a brand new market for anything.

Wearables?

 

[bbeagle]

Well it is dead in the water without a back catalog of content. It has maybe 10 shows just now?

Apple TV+ has 29 shows and series currently. There is a lot on there, actually. I'm finding I'm watching shows on Apple TV+ more than I am on Netflix. I've watched the series Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet (very cool - a better Silicon Valley, but making video games), my daughter watched the series GhostWriter, and my son watched the Snoopy series.

List of Apple TV+ original programming - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[yaxomoxay]

Apple TV+ has 29 shows and series currently.

Not nearly enough to compete with Disney+ or Netflix.

 

[archer75]

We've watched just about all the content they have and the shows have been fantastic so far! TMS, for all mankind, servant, truth be told, mythic quest, see, trying, amazing stories, defending Jacob. I've enjoyed most episodes of home. Watched some of little America. And their upcoming lineup looks quite good. Will be watching home before dark next.
They don't have to compete with Netflix. It's not an either/or decision. You can have both. Watch content on one, cancel, watch content on the other. Netflix has been around for a long time now and had time to build up a massive catalog. Disney already has a century of content so they hit the ground running. Apple will get there in time. But for now I'm enjoying what they have.

 

[bbeagle]

Not nearly enough to compete with Disney+ or Netflix.

It all matters WHAT is up there. The ONLY thing we are keeping Netflix for is my wife is waiting for Fuller House to return. After she watches that, we're dropping Netflix. They have tons of crap, but nothing we want to watch.

There are a few Apple TV+ shows we like, when we're done with those, we'll go to Amazon Prime Streaming, where my daughter is watching 5 seasons of 'Just Add Magic' right now. It all depends on the SHOWS, not how 'much' content there is.

 

[Yammabot]

Apple should throw some time and effort on the usability of Apple TV+ it’s user interface is horrendous! I’m embarrassed to own an appLe TV as it’s been so badly neglected and under whelming memory and storage. Don’t get me stared on the remote!

 

[yaxomoxay]

It all matters WHAT is up there. The ONLY thing we are keeping Netflix for is my wife is waiting for Fuller House to return. After she watches that, we're dropping Netflix. They have tons of crap, but nothing we want to watch.

There are a few Apple TV+ shows we like, when we're done with those, we'll go to Amazon Prime Streaming, where my daughter is watching 5 seasons of 'Just Add Magic' right now. It all depends on the SHOWS, not how 'much' content there is.

I don't deny that individuals will find one service better than the other, but from a business perspective you need lots of content of various nature. Otherwise people will just subscribe for a month, binge everything, and then drop it for 11 months.