Apple TV+ To Cut Spending As Platform Generates Less Views In A Month Than Netflix Does In A Day
‘Silo,’ Courtesy of Apple TV+.
After spending more than $20 billion to produce original TV shows and movies since the start of the streamer in 2019, Apple is refining its strategy in Hollywood, as many audiences aren’t watching their productions.
Apple services boss Eddy Cue has been urging studio chiefs Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht to get a hold on high project spending.
Unlike competitors like Netflix, Apple doesn’t buy the most its projects. The studio poured a juggernaut figure of money — $500 million — on movies from directors Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott and Matthew Vaughn, and $250 million on the 2024 World War II miniseries executive produced by Steven Spielberg; ‘Masters of the Air.’
Those mentioned feature films were all box office stalemates, and only ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ registered in Nielsen’s rankings of the most-popular streaming titles back in January.
Apple is spending billions of dollars a year on original programming, with many rave reviews from critics, and earning countless awards nominations. However, the streamer is attracting just 0.2% of TV viewers in the US, which means it generates less viewing in one month than Netflix does in one day.
“Subscriber growth has been weak, with the platform’s original content a fraction of what rivals offer,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Geetha Ranganathan and Kevin Near wrote in a recent note.
Studios and streaming services across Hollywood have reduced spending after years of record losses and Apple seeks to do the same. This could impact upcoming seasons of hit shows like ‘Severance’ and ‘Foundation.’
Management will pay less for shows being put into production and quickly cancel projects that aren’t generating much viewership — even if the show itself is acclaimed. A perfect example of this is when Netflix cancelled ‘Mindhunter’ for lower viewership numbers than expected and expensive budgetary costs.
Apple TV+ has just earned a record 72 Emmy nominations amid the studio’s strategy shift.
