From Josef Adalian’s “It’s About to Get Real for Apple TV+” posted Friday by New York Magazine:
Earlier this week, Apple quietly confirmed it was changing the terms of its free trial. On its website, the company is now telling consumers that as of July 1, buying a new Apple device will only entitle them to three months of TV+ gratis, rather than a whole year. What’s more, the millions of TV+ users who’ve been freeloading off of Tim Cook’s benevolence for so long — like me — will apparently not get another reprieve when those original 2019 free trials run out next month. Apple hasn’t officially said anything, but given how much advance notice the company gave before those previous extensions, it is looking like they won’t be doing so again. If that happens, consumers will finally be forced to decide whether TV+ merits its sticker price of $5 per month…
While some analysts scoffed at the extra-long trial period, I think it demonstrated (again) Apple’s willingness to sacrifice short-term revenue for a longer-term play. Fact is, every other major streamer (and most cable networks) built their subscriber base on the back of library shows, and then expanded through originals. Apple knew it couldn’t expect many people to pay for just a handful of unproven titles, so it wisely decided to basically give the service away for free while it let audiences get acclimated to its offering…
As one top agent told me a few weeks ago as I was doing research for another story, “They have all the money in the world, and they spend it to make good stuff. They’re fulfilling their side of the bargain.” With the extended trials about to end, Apple is about to find out if audiences agree.
My take: In addition to all the money in the world, Apple also has more patience than your average Hollywood mogul.
As Tim said, “I have the hide of a rhinoceros.”
But…
I can say the same for Amazon – though it does have a large back catalog of old movies.
And I do like shows like Home Before Dark (thankfully renewed) and movies like The Banker enough that – all things considered – I’ll keep subscribing.
No Netflix for me. But I may re-subscribe to The Criterion Collection.