Apple Wants to Draw Subscribers to Apple TV+ With More Feature Films
Apple is ramping up its efforts to produce feature films, according to a new report from The Information. Apple has a limited number of high profile films already, including "Palmer," "Cherry," and "Greyhound," and sees it as a way to draw more people into Apple TV+.
Apple has been telling studio executives that it is aiming to do more than 10 to 12 original movies per year for Apple TV+, which would let it better compete with other streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and HBO Max.
To facilitate its push into feature films, Apple has hired Jessie Henderson, who was previously the executive vice president of feature films for the HBO Max streaming service. She will join the Apple TV+ team run by Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, reporting to Matt Dentler, an Apple TV+ executive who handles original films.
Compared to other streaming services, Apple TV+ is still in its infancy and Apple is working hard on content to bolster the service and make it more attractive to subscribers. Apple is still giving people who buy a new device a free year of service, and those who originally redeemed that free year when Apple TV+ launched in November 19 continue to have access at no cost as Apple continues to extend the trial period.
Apple has continued its free trial periods to give people more time to get hooked on the original content available on Apple TV+ before having to pay for a subscription. At this time, Apple is also reimbursing those who pay for Apple TV+, so the service is making little to no money at this time.
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Top Rated Comments
I also believe the tv+ catalog has improved dramatically since its launch (Ted Lasso is a must see).
Where they've fallen short (and it's not even entirely their fault) is they caved to the demands of production companies, and allowed them to pollute Apple TV content with a plethora of crap apps, alternative streaming services. Each one pleading for another $5, $8, even more dollars per month. No one wants that. No one wants to subscribe to yet another platform just so they can find maybe one nugget of a show or movie that's exclusively on that "app", and then be stuck paying throughout the remainder of the year, hoping, waiting, for maybe another quality show to be released. We're bled dry from it, and it's just too much to even try to keep track of, so we just don't even bother.
But, this is how Apple is going to win. Producing and owning truly high quality content. Focusing on quality vs. quantity, and then maintaining a curated, high quality, simple (to use and pay for) platform. Once their library is well populated, people won't even glance at the dozens of other streaming services.