Taking pitches from Hollywood studios and licensing content.
From Bloomberg’s “Apple Buys Older Shows for TV+, Stepping Up Netflix Challenge,” posted Tuesday morning:
Apple is acquiring older movies and shows for its TV+ streaming service, aiming to build a back catalog of content that can better stack up against the huge libraries available on Netflix, Hulu and Disney+.
The company’s video-programming executives have taken pitches from Hollywood studios about licensing older content for TV+ and have bought some shows and movies, according to people familiar with the matter.
The move represents a subtle strategy shift for Apple TV+, which launched in November with a lineup of original programs. The company plans to keep TV+ focused on original shows, and hasn’t yet acquired any huge franchises or blockbusters for its back catalog, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private.
Still, it’s an acknowledgment that successful streaming services typically have a mix of old and new shows. That’s been the formula for Netflix Inc., Disney’s Hulu and Disney+, and Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Video.
My take: I don’t get it. Doesn’t Apple TV+ already offers a mix of original content and older shows?
Apple has a unique advantage. They can buy 10’s of $B’s with only a 3% annual yield. Investors won’t blink.
Apple TV has had one showing rentals for a very long time. In a typical month I spend about $20 on these rentals. During the last 2 months my consumption has more than doubled.
I’d really like to be on the selection committee for these ‘old’ movies. Of the literally tens of thousands of titles, I don’t think there are more than a few thousand worth watching. The problem is finding them. Streamers’ algorithmic efforts to find them for you does nothing more than increasingly narrow what is presented to you.
(1) Apple is just getting started as a movie studio, and has already generated some excellent material.
(2) The covid pandemic has temporarily severely hobbled all businesses that require close human contact, and that very much includes movie-making and cooperative arts in general.
(3) So we are left with re-runs, AND cooped up. That will obviously give a temporary advantage to those who have collections of re-runs.
(4) However, as Gregg points out, Apple both sells a set-top box for accessing re-runs and has a store for profiting from them.
In fact I’m thinking of cancelling my Netflix as it’s more expensive than Disney and Apple combined.
Also Apple has to make TV+ compelling, before the free memberships expire.
I think Apple has already done better than that.
When I’m searching for something to watch I go to Apple TV+. Apple TV+ search finds what I’m looking for, no matter which service has it, and I can go directly there without having to open each service and do multiple searches.
I have become fond of searching by actor/actresses. Supporting actor/actress searches brings up a lot I find enjoyable (and often haven’t seen before). This brings up much more of what I like than algorithms searching genres.