Apple to fully launch Apple TV + next year

You know of Apple TV +, Apple’s ad-free subscription entry into the video-on-demand streaming war, but what are you really doing know about Apple TV +? If your answer to this question is: “Ted lasso, and that’s about it, ”no one could rightly blame you.

Despite the undeniable success of the Warm and Fuzzy football comedy, which stars Jason Sudeikis (and others sensitive human actors) and racked up a combined total of 20 Emmy nominations, Apple TV + doesn’t have many standout points – you might have heard of the Jennifer Aniston Vehicle The morning show and not much else. In the early days, tThe platform’s attempts to market itself were weak, and industry insiders have speculated that Apple simply cannot afford to hack it on the creative programming side of the entertainment industry.

But all this, Information reports, could be set to change: Apple reportedly gears up to invest more than $ 500 million in marketing its flagship streaming service next year, with the pace of new TV and movie releases reaching at least one per week. Chris Rice, co-chair of Endeavor Content, a production studio that has partnered with Apple on several projects, told The Information that what the company is currently striving to achieve is “big and bold”, and said he is “in a state of constant acceleration”.

If you’ve read the tea leaves, the decision to go big on the streaming service makes sense: Apple has long signaled its intention to play the long game with Apple TV +, even going so far as to break with its history. for a long time. tradition of compartmentalizing its applications on its own proprietary hardware by looking for a dedicated Apple TV + button on Roku remotes. Notably, Apple TV + is also available on smart TVs made by non-Apple manufacturers.

Despite the absence of the deep bench bonus originals offered by HBO Max and Netflix, Apple TV + has actually posted respectable subscriber numbers since its debut on November 11. 1, 2019 – a fact that is likely largely attributable to its above-average notoriety alone. While major streaming services like Netflix and Disney + continue to dominate the market, Apple TV + had racked up around 40 million subscribers by the end of last year, a person familiar with the numbers told The Information, about half of whom were on a free trial. (For reference, Disney + reported about 116 million subscribers in August, and Netflix, which currently leads the pack, would have around 209 million.)

Information also reports that Apple is seeks to acquire studio land in order to be able to speed up the production of its own original productions, with particular emphasis on films in particular. So, for now, it looks like things are looking rosy at Apple, and we should expect to see more content soon. This news could be more exciting without Apple’s apparent appetite for ultra-saccharin, with a programming mandate to only develop shows that “connect with humanity.” But hey, you take what you get and sometimes what you get is more Ted Lasso.