anonymouse

Since both Apple and Google "play an active role in the consumer chain, providing infrastructure and conditions for the operation of FaceApp," the companies are being held responsible. 

charlesn said:

anonymouse said:

I think their strategy is pretty clear. Apple TV+ is obviously a completely different concept than Apple Music — sell your own content vs sell everyone's content, respectively —which, at least in part, reflects the fact that the music and TV industries work completely differently. It's also obvious that to produce all your own content in streaming you need to go for quality over quantity, and to do that successfully you need a person or persons with good taste picking shows and movies.

My friend, that's not how television works. Apple does not produce ANY of its content. Zero. Production companies will come in with concepts, scripts, perhaps with stars already attached (or not), or they may come in with the rights to produce a show around a book or series of books (like the current Silo) and then Apple decides if it wants to put up the money to have the production company (or companies--sometimes it's more than one) actually make the show.

charlesn said:

Great article with a ton of interesting and relevant data, Willam! As a longtime TV executive who has been using Apple computers exclusively since 1992, I've had a particular fascination with Apple TV+. And it is still not clear to me what Apple's goals are for this service! As you point out, Apple TV+ only offers a tiny fraction of the shows/movies offered on the major competing services. In this regard, it reminds me of Apple Fitness and Apple Arcade, which both feel like half-hearted efforts towards a great service. Contrast that with Apple Music, where there's no doubt that Apple is 100% invested in its success. 

Yes, Apple spends lavishly on high-quality productions, often with A-list stars for Apple TV+. But big budgets, high quality and major stars do not guarantee hit television. To some degree, you need a quantity of shows that Apple TV+ lacks if you're going to convince people to pay a monthly subscription. There's an old saying in TV circles that "hits happen." You really can't plan for them. Consider that Ted Lasso--the biggest hit on Apple TV+ by far and the #1 most streamed show, period, for all of 2023--is a very well-made but fairly traditional sitcom. Not exactly what you think of first when you think of Apple. And no big stars beyond Jason Sudeikis. Yet that's the show that really took off. Greenlighting more shows gives you more opportunities to find the next Ted Lasso. 

Honestly, one free weekend feels like not much time to persuade people to take on another subscription. I'll be curious to see how this goes.