When Apple TV+ began, I have to admit I was skeptical about paying for an app that was only going to build their library one show at a time. Unlike Netflix or even Amazon, Apple TV+ is not licensing movies and TV shows from other platforms to play on it. Everything it has was developed in-house. Over the last few years, this strategy began to pay off. The reason is, it has started having hits.
Shows like Ted Lasso, The Morning Show, and Servant, and movies like Coda, have gotten awards attention and drawn in worldwide viewers. In fact, now people are seeing Apple TV+ as a true contender amongst the streamers.
And Apple is ready to expand and add even more originals to the fold.
This all can happen because Apple does not rely on its media to make money. It has other sources of income and products besides the shows and movies it creates and buys. Without being reliant on this, it can afford to build slowly.
This is the long game. No one else, aside from streamers like Amazon, can afford to do this. And that's what's made Apple so singular in this new changing of the guard. Unlike places trying to add as many subscribers as possible, they're working on content it believes in and is letting people come to them.
While we're not given the numbers, people estimate Apple has between eight million and forty million subscribers. But Apple also gives away accounts with the purchase of some products, so it's hard to tell who is paying, as well. But Apple is growing, thanks mostly to the fame of shows like Ted Lasso. It brings people in, and they tend to stay, at least for more of that show.
'Ted Lasso'Credit: Apple TV+
The answer is tricky. It needs more shows and movies to get more people, but it also can't compromise what's been working, which is slowly adding stories they think will have mass appeal. They're favoring things with stars.
Movies like Finch with Tom Hanks and The Morning Show, with Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, all have brand recognition for them. They have A-list actors who people usually seek out no matter what they star in. But there are only so many projects like this that can exist. And while these older actors certainly have their demo, Apple will have to begin to appeal to others in order to have a broad subscriber base.
Are you an Apple TV+ subscriber? What's your favorite show on there?
We'll keep you updated on how the numbers look and where the network is going. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
