AppleTV+ shopping for ‘recycled’ content
May 19, 2020
In a major adjustment to its launch ‘philosophy’, Apple is said to be seeking to buy in older movies and TV shows to bulk a content library for its Apple TV+ streaming platform that looks very thin compared to rivals.
Apple had made much of relying on original shows, but sluggish sign-ups mean a rethink, reports Bloomberg.
Apple plans to keep its television streaming service primarily focused on original content, but nevertheless, it’s 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.
Apple TV+ currently has fewer than 30 original movies and shows in its catalogue. However, at $4.99 per month, Apple TV+ costs half the price of a standard Netflix subscription in the US. Until now it has hosted individual services in the form of Apple TV Channels, which include HBO, Starz, SHOWTIME, and EPIX.
However, according to Bloomberg, this approach has yielded mixed results. Even though about 10 million people had signed up for Apple TV+ by February, only about half that number actively used the service, it reports.
For comparison, Disney+ signed up over 10 million users on launch day, and has since attracted over 50 million subscribers. Netflix has 182.8 million subscribers globally.