Apple Looking to License More Movies to Expand Apple TV+ Library

Apple is in active talks to license more films from major Hollywood studios as it seeks to bolster Apple TV+, according to Bloomberg.

Apple TV Plus Feature 2 Dark Teal
Apple has traditionally focused on original productions for its streaming platform, but it is increasingly looking to expand its offerings by acquiring programming from the extensive libraries of established studios, sources familiar with the matter claim. While ‌Apple TV‌+ has seen some success with original series such as "Ted Lasso" and "The Morning Show," these hits have been relatively few and far between, and the service has struggled to match the extensive catalogs of competitors like Netflix and Disney+.

‌Apple TV‌+ launched in November 2019, positioning itself as a premium service with a slate of high-quality, original content. Despite receiving critical acclaim and numerous awards, including 72 Emmy nominations this year, ‌Apple TV‌+ has not garnered the same subscriber base as its competitors. According to the research firm MoffettNathanson, only 11% of U.S. households use ‌Apple TV‌+, compared to 55% for Netflix. The limited scope of content available on ‌Apple TV‌+ is apparently seen as a significant factor contributing to its slower growth. Data from Antenna indicates that streaming services with larger content libraries, like Netflix, experience lower cancellation rates.

In an effort to address this, Apple has already begun experimenting with licensing. Earlier this year, the company licensed approximately 50 movies from Hollywood studios for its service in the United States, adding popular titles such as "Mean Girls" and "Titanic" to its catalog. The positive reception to this initial batch of licensed films is said to have encouraged Apple to pursue additional deals. These discussions aim to license even more titles, potentially expanding the service's offerings internationally as well as domestically. Simultaneously, major studios such as Warner Bros., Discovery, and Disney are increasingly open to selling their content to rivals to boost revenue.

Popular Stories

iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

iOS 19 to Have Some of the 'Biggest' Design Changes in iPhone's History

Sunday March 16, 2025 10:35 am PDT by
Apple is planning some of the "biggest iOS and macOS redesigns in its history," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman reiterated that iOS 19 will have a visionOS-like design with more transparent interfaces:The new interfaces will adopt the design principles introduced in visionOS, the software for Apple's Vision Pro headset. That includes greater...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro teal 1

Apple Says iPhone Driver's Licenses Coming to These 8 U.S. States, But Rollout Remains Slow

Wednesday March 19, 2025 6:55 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly. It has been three and a half years since Apple first announced the...
iphone 16 pro ghost hand

Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro Already Rumored to Have Five New Features

Tuesday March 18, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro models are still around a year and a half away from launching, there are already some early rumors about the devices. Below, we recap some key iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far. Under-Screen Face ID In April 2023, display industry analyst Ross Young shared a roadmap showing that iPhone 17 Pro models would feature under-display Face ID. In May 2024, however, Young said ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

Apple's First Foldable iPhone Estimated to Cost Nearly Twice as Much as iPhone 16 Pro Max

Monday March 17, 2025 6:42 am PDT by
In an investor research note today with British bank Barclays, analyst Tim Long said Apple's first foldable iPhone could have a starting price in the $2,300 range in the United States, which would make it by far the most expensive iPhone model ever. If the first foldable iPhone starts at $2,299, that means it would cost nearly twice as much as the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which starts at $1,199. ...
Bent iPhone Air Feature

Apple Canned Larger iPhone 17 Air Model Over Fears of Bendgate 2.0

Monday March 17, 2025 4:07 am PDT by
Apple prototyped a larger ultra-slim iPhone 17 Air with a 6.9-inch display, but ultimately decided not to go ahead with the device because of fears that it could be susceptible to bending, according to a new report. Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, writing in his latest Power On newsletter: When it first started work on the phone, it prototyped a device with a 6.9-inch screen — matching...
iphone 16 pro models 1

All Four iPhone 17 Models Rumored to Feature Upgraded 24-Megapixel Front Camera and More

Monday March 17, 2025 7:50 pm PDT by
All four iPhone 17 models launching later this year will feature an upgraded 24-megapixel front-facing camera, according to analyst Jeff Pu. In a research note today with investment firm GF Securities, Pu shared a chart in which he reiterated that the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will each be equipped with a 24-megapixel front camera. By comparison, all four ...
General iOS Mail Feature

iOS 18.3.2 Broke iCloud Mail Delivery

Monday March 17, 2025 3:31 pm PDT by
The iOS 18.3.2 update that Apple released last week appears to have broken iCloud Mail for some users. There are multiple complaints on Reddit and the MacRumors forums from users who say that iCloud Mail is not able to push new iCloud emails to their iPhones after the iOS 18.3.2 update. Affected users say that despite having the correct settings enabled, new iCloud emails are not showing up...
iphone 17 pro asherdipps

iPhone 17 Pro Max Rumors Allegedly Refer to 'iPhone 17 Ultra' Model

Friday March 14, 2025 7:56 am PDT by
If you've been following iPhone rumors over the last few years, you may remember reading reports that Apple flirted with the idea of introducing a super high-end "Ultra" model that would either replace its Pro Max device or sit above it in Apple's smartphone hirearchy. These reports appeared in the pre-launch iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 rumor cycles, but ultimately came to nothing. Now though, the...

Top Rated Comments

Total Respray Avatar
9 months ago
It would be good if they would licence any further content worldwide and not just the US. Especially given we all pay - more or less - the same price.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
anthogag Avatar
9 months ago
Licensing older movies and shows that are already on other streaming services just to increase the catalog is boring.

Great shows bring customers to a platform. Apple should spend its money on trying to make or get original hit entertainment.

If they're going to licence movies get the new movies that come to streaming after playing in theatres.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
9 months ago
Just before and throughout the time that AppleTV+ has existed, multiple major studios with huge libraries have been put up for sale... often with Apple rumored to be among the bidders. Apple never "wins" such auctions if they actually are among those seriously interested.

Putting a little bit of the massive vaults of cash (or the massive Apple debt) to acquire the entire 20th Century Fox library or the entire Warner Library, or MGM, etc would have loaded AppleTV+ with abundant classic content. Apple didn't want to pay for it.

The behemoth Paramount Pictures was available in the last few months, the owner of "a mountain" of desirable content, a big library, franchise favorites, etc. How much did it cost the buyer who did buy it? A little under 3X the Beats acquisition price ('https://finance.yahoo.com/news/done-deal-paramount-global-sells-035601778.html'). Did Apple put some of that cash hoard towards buying that big bundle of content and franchises? No. Were they even rumored to be among the bidders? No. Same story every time.

Same with games. We keep running through this circular cycle of Apple being serious "now" about gaming... but when it comes to laying out the cash to buy various gaming studios to then own AAA game exclusives, Apple is often rumored among the bidders... but never actually buys. Instead, they seem to run a "build it and they will come" approach, where they roll out some interesting hardware but then expect developers to choose the "no money" approach over the "easy money" approach to developing games.

Both are easy uses for the great wells of cash or credit at Apples disposal. Instead they just sit on that cash and/or pile up more debt. Do I expect that to change? No. Apple seems to value third party content about like many of us seem to value it: they/we want the sun & the moon for nothing... but Apple to (somehow) get huge profit anyway.

Before a defender(s) fires back with something like "I'd rather Apple focus on Mac/iDevices/Software than putting money into content library acquisitions," nothing at all stops them from doing BOTH. Instead, they are doing what is apparently short-term group rentals of select content, sort of like a poor-man's Disney Vault approach... with far fewer movies & shows in rotation. You'd think it was 1997 Apple with no spare cash if you didn't know so much better.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iJulio Avatar
9 months ago
Makes sense. They've had a decent rotating catalogue of films recently and the streaming quality is top notch. Also, the breadth of titles they've been rotating on the service are fairly decent picks of the most popular Hollywood movies within the last decade or two.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mr Todhunter Avatar
9 months ago
Slow Horses series. Better of all the others combined.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NapZzz Avatar
9 months ago
If strange things can be watched in  TV+, that will definitely be f**king incredible.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)