Apple Goes After Netflix’s Content Quality
- Mehedi Hassan
- Jul 01, 2019
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23
When Apple launched its subscription streaming service earlier this year, there was a lot of talk about the content the company was making for the service. Although it had some of the biggest names from the entertainment industry, the catalog of shows revealed weren’t really mind-blowing.
Apple’s streaming service Apple TV+ launches later this year, and the company is working on a bunch of different original shows and movies for the platform. But Apple has something big to worry about: Netflix and its huge catalog of original shows and movies.
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Here’s the thing, though: Apple really wants you to believe that the company is taking a different approach to its content than Netflix. Apple’s CEO already said its service can coexist with Netflix, but Apple’s head of Services Eddy Cue said in an interview with The Times that the company’s approach to content is very different.
Apple TV+ will be creating the “best” content, not the “most”. Cue is obviously taking a dig at Netflix here, which is expected to spend a whopping $15 billion on Netflix Originals this year, beating Apple’s $2 billion. “Their [Netflix’s] motto is to create a lot of content so there’s always something for you to watch, and it’s working really well. There’s nothing wrong with that model, but it’s not our model,” Cue said.
Cue specifically talked about Apple’s upcoming The Morning Show, starring Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, which is apparently “really, really good” on the quality bar. At the end of the day, though, Netflix already has a really good lineup of popular, quality shows that bring in millions of subscribers, including critically acclaimed shows like Stranger Things, Black Mirror, Narcos, etc.
When Cue was asked about Apple’s lack of expertise in the entertainment industry–something that’s been brought up even before Apple TV+ was a thing–he handled it really well. “That’s a great question, one we asked ourselves too. Look, we don’t know a lot about television other than we are big consumers of it, but that doesn’t quite qualify you as an expert by any means. The thing that we’re smart about is when we don’t know about something we want to get into, we go and find the best people for it,” Cue said, listing all the big names the company has hired to work on its new original content.
There is a lot we still don’t know about Apple TV+, including the pricing. The service is launching this Autumn, and it could either be a huge success or a massive failure. It’s really hard to tell whether anyone will actually subscribe to the service apart from diehard Apple customers. Most consumers already subscribe to things like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu, so whether they really want to add yet another service to that list is a big mystery. That obviously doesn’t only apply to Apple TV+, and it will be a big concern for many other streaming services launching in the near future, including Disney’s own streaming service.
Conversation 23 comments
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skane2600
<p>What constitutes the "best" content is always going to be subjective but what any streaming service needs are numerous titles that are popular enough to get people to subscribe. </p>
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Thom77
<p>What Apple means by "best" content is "most woke".</p><p><br></p><p>I've seen some reports on their original content, and so far, it is obvious that those shows are not made for me, which is fine, but in such an already established marketplace, I dont see the wisdom in making shows that are for specialized and niche audiences.</p><p><br></p><p>The first episode of season 8 of Game of Thrones had over 150,000 known seeds on torrent sites. This is absurdly high. Dont ask me how I know.</p><p><br></p><p>And that show had a wide ranging audience. It was culturally relevant, reaching a success Apple (and others) could only dream of … and it reached torrented records.</p><p><br></p><p>Are people going to sign up for Apples woke original content that caters to a smaller demographic, when they were unwilling to sign up for HBO Go to watch GOT, one of the most popular shows in history?</p><p><br></p>
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BrianEricFord
<blockquote><em><a href="#439000">In reply to Thom77:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>What would you consider to be specialized or “niche” about any of the shows Apple has announced thus far?</p><p><br></p><p>(Any more so than any number of wildly popular shows on other streaming or traditional outlets?)</p><p><br></p><p>Leaving aside any potential bias you may have, of course.</p>
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skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#439007">In reply to Waethorn:</a></em></blockquote><p>Yes, there was a time when I was a kid that having a black person on TV wasn't family-friendly but thankfully that time has passed. So tired of all the complaining about the imaginary SJW's.</p>
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Thom77
<blockquote><em><a href="#439007">In reply to Waethorn:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>I think the problem Apple is going to have is that its 10x easier (and more successful) to hijack content with their agenda then have original content with it </p><p><br></p><p>The new religion of Social Justice hijacked Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Marvel. The audience was already so invested in it that they put up with it, complained, but still watched, and the Warriors then claim success.</p><p><br></p><p>But look at original content like the new Star Trek Discovery and Batgirl … NOBODY was invested in it already, so they will easily just watched something else.</p><p><br></p><p>If Apple was smart, they would hire Tim Allen for a show. Now THATS Diversity. But they won't, because they have agenda to push.</p>
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Thom77
<blockquote><em><a href="#439034">In reply to jgraebner:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Thats fine. The point is … will a Netflix alternative catered to mostly women succeed in a marketplace that is already full of streaming services that cater to THE GENERAL PUBLIC AS A WHOLE.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
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skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#439113">In reply to Thom77:</a></em></blockquote><p>You're jumping to conclusions. Has Apple made a statement that they intend to focus primarily on women as customers? Is there enough content that has been announced that we can draw that sort of conclusion? Is there really such a thing as women-only entertainment? </p>
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skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#439015">In reply to Thom77:</a></em></blockquote><p>Game of Thrones? Seriously? Yeah all that female nudity and explicit violence is so "woke". Add to that the 2 or 3 black characters in a cast of 100+, that's diversity run amok.</p>
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Stooks
<p>"<em style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The Morning Show, </em><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">starring Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston"</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I seriously think I read about Apple green lighting this show 2 years ago? Seriously WTF is taking so long to roll this stuff out???? No dates, no price no nothing.</span></p><p><br></p><p>Apple was lucky with music they were a big player in digital music before they offered a subscription service to take on Spotify. Video is a completely different story and they are years and years late. It will be interesting if they are successful with their G-rated offering.</p>
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dontbe evil
<p>"best" … it's always funny read an apple fanboy blogger article</p>