After years of losses, Apple TV+ wants to ensure it can do more with less. According to a Bloomberg report, Apple services boss Eddy Cue has met with studio chiefs Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht to stop overspending on projects.
People familiar with the matter say Apple wants to change its reputation as the biggest spender in town, as its views and subscriptions aren’t growing the way the company expected.
According to the report, while Apple spends billions of dollars a year on original shows (which have strong reviews and many award nominations), it’s just attracting 0.2% of TV viewing in the US. The most interesting data is that Apple TV+ apparently generates less viewing in one month than Netflix does in one day.
While Netflix itself can’t compare to cable TV in the US, it continues to be seen as the winner of the streaming war. It has reached 277.7 million subscribers and more than 600 million people around the world. In addition, it’s finally profiting as it curbs spending on production while still believing it can deliver great content.
With that in mind, Apple wants to change its reputation. It has limited new seasons for shows that people are actually watching while focusing on spending less on productions–even those that people love. Upcoming seasons of Severance and Foundation had to deal with budget constraints and adapt the script for less expensive episodes.
Still, Apple’s The Morning Show is reportedly paying more than $50 million for the cast alone for season 4.
As Apple TV+ is about to turn 5, it makes sense why Apple is so worried about making the streaming service more profitable. Even though it’s far from competing with Netflix and Disney, it’s slowly growing and recently outnumbered Paramount+.
At the end of the day, it’s all about how much money Apple is willing to keep spending on its streaming platform and how worth this business is for Cupertino when considering the whole ecosystem.
BGR will keep covering the latest Apple TV+ news as we learn more about them.