12 ★ † FT Weekend 2 November/3 November 2019
C O M PA N I E S
several people familiar with the matter
— “they could throw it in the garbage
and it would be a footnote in their finan-
cial statements”.
Apple’s revenues in the past 12
months hit $260bn but Wall Street is
still closely watchingTV+. Apple shares
fell almost 3 per cent a few weeks ago
afterGoldman Sachsvoiced concerns
that free trials would dent margins.
Critics have also argued that Apple’s
TV strategy has at times appeared direc-
tionless. As well asThe Morning Show, its
first series include a dystopian fantasy, a
19th-century coming-of-age story and
an alternative history space race.
But according to people familiar with
the matter, Apple said no to more than
1,200 projects before greenlighting the
firstscripts, while it has enlisted sea-
soned executives to steerprogramming,
including Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van
Amburg, Sony Pictures veterans who
played instrumental roles on hit shows
such asBreaking Bad nda The Crown.
And Apple’s sheer scale shouldhelp.
Its $4.99 a month price compares
favourably with $13 for Netflix’s most
popular plan and $15for HBO Max —
and it is free for a year for anyone who
buys an Apple device. If even a fractionof the 200m people who buy iPhones
each year take up its offer, TV+ would
become one of the biggest players inTV.
One of the biggest problems for Apple
is that the market couldbe heading for
saturation. In recent weeks the stream-
ing wars have reached a fever pitch, as
WarnerMediaunveiled to investors its
big streaming bet HBO Max, while Dis-
ney has been on a marketing blitz ahead
of the debut of Disney+ this month.
With an unprecedented amount of
content to stream, it is not clear whether
consumers will shuffle between services
or sign up to multiple services at once.
Analysts believe that most viewers will
sign up for between three and five video
streaming services in total. Netflix,
which already has more than 150m sub-
scribers, is unlikely to lose its perch.
Wall Street is confident in Disney’s
product, which will launch on Novem-
ber 12 with a vast library including pop-
ular franchises such asStar Wars nda
Marvel. But the jury is still out on
WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, which is
charging more than rivalsbut has an
unparalleled catalogue includingHarry
Potter,Friends nda Game of Thrones.
Apple’s chief disadvantage is its thin
library.It is entering the arenawith a
handful of series that received a luke-
warm reception.
It may be that this foray into TV is
more experimental than reflecting a set-
tled strategy. One senior industry figure
described it as a way for Apple to “get its
feet wet” and understand the business
before making a bigger decision, poten-
tially including an acquisition.
Meanwhile, Apple finance head Luca
Maestri said streaming was part of a
long-term play, and not designed for a
quick payout. Referring to TV+ and
Apple’s Arcade gaming service, he said:
“We feel very optimistic about how
these businesses will return over time.”TV show libraries by streaming service
Number of distinct titles by genre*Action & adventure
Children & family
Comedy
Crime & thriller
Documentary
Drama
Entertainment
Horror
Miscellaneous
Reality
Romance
Sci-fi & fantasy
Adult
News & current a airs - - - - - or moreSource: Ampere Analysis *Includes films Source: Ampere AnalysisUpcoming TV shows by streaming service
Number commissioned by genreAction & adventure
Children & family
Comedy
Crime & thriller
Documentary
Drama
Entertainment
Horror
Reality
Romance
Sci-fi & fantasy
News & current a airsNetflixAmazonHBODisneyQuibiHuluAppleShowtimeHBO Max - - - - - or moreApple is targeting drama,
crime and sci-fiUpcoming shows are original, first run TV shows currently in production that will land on these platforms
in the next 1 - 24 months. Does not include movies or renewed showsAcornTVAmazon Prime BritboxCBS All AccessCrunchyrollHBO GoHotstarHuluNetflixShowtimeStarz PlayAmazon has a vast library with more than 17,000 titles,
more than twice the catalogue of Netflix, but analysts
question the quality of the ‘long-tail’ contentPAT R I C K M C G E E— SAN FRANCISCO
A L E X BA R K E R— LONDON
A N N A N I C O L AO U — N E W YO R K
The reviews came in swift and harsh.
“Dull, dreary and dubiously written,”
declared USA Today. A “disappointing
creation”, said Entertainment Weekly.
The show the press was scolding was
Succession —the HBO hit that was once
critically derided but is now among the
most acclaimed television series of
recent years.
Apple xecutives will be hoping thate
its new video streaming service Apple
TV+ ill follow a similar trajectory afterw
garnering decidedly mixed reviews for
its original line-up.
Launchingyesterday, the iPhone
makeraims to take onAmazon,Netflix
and upcoming entrants such as Disney+
andHBO Max ithw expensive and star-
studded new series. The most promi-
nent isThe Morning Show, one of the
most costlyever made, a #MeToo-era
drama featuring Jennifer Aniston, Reese
Witherspoon and Steve Carell as hosts
of a popular TV talk show.
Apple’s move into video streaming is
part of apush to capitalise on its access
to hundreds of millions of iPhone users,
propping up its revenuesas smartphone
sales decline.
The strategy is working: on Wednes-
day Apple said that iPhone sales fell
9 per cent last quarter, but overall reve-
nue rose, with its services division accel-
erating 18 per cent to $12.5bn.
With Apple TV+, it willaggressively
undercut ts rivals with a $4.99 monthlyi
price — something that chief executive
Tim Cook described to investors this
week as “a gift to our users”.
But with negative reviews calling into
question Apple’s ability to lure subscrib-
ers, the service is already on the back
foot. “All the pretty people in the world
can’t keep you hooked when the pur-
pose is this muddled,” said Indiewire
ofThe Morning Show, rating it a C-.
Long accustomed to selling premium
products attop prices, Apple’s TV ven-
ture has cast it in adifferent role: the
newcomer hoping to break through a
crowded market with a bargain.
After years of denying the rise of
internet TV, traditional media groups
arefighting back against Netflix and
other techventures that have upended
their business. Thelargest media com-
panies— Disney, AT&T’s WarnerMedia
and Comcast’s NBCUniversal — are all in
the midst of launching their own
streaming services to attleb Netflix.
The result is a deeply competitive
landscape characterised by fierce bid-
ding wars, soaring content prices and
huge volumes of content. Amid the bevy
of offerings, Apple, which has never
before ventured into scripted series, has
been a big question mark in Hollywood.
One Hollywood executive who has
been working with the company said
that he struggled to understand what
Apple hoped to accomplish with TV+.“I
don’t know who the Apple offering is
first and foremost designed for,” he said.
Meanwhile, a Hollywood financier
who has sold several shows to Apple
said: “From what I’ve seen,The Morning
Show s not going to sustain huge growthi
on a subscription service. They’re really
far behind [Netflix and others].”
However, he pointed out Apple’s
financial advantage: despite how much
it paid forThe Morning Show —about
$250m for two seasons, according to
Apple enters the streaming wars with TV+
Tech group aims to capitalise on the host of iPhone users by challenging Amazon and Netflix with high-budget shows
Apple TV+’s early bets
Drama about a news anchor (Jennifer Aniston)struggling to keep her place after her
co-host is fired for alleged sexual misconduct and arival emerges in the form of Reese
Witherspoon.“Flashy” and “somewhat frivolous” was the Rotten TomatoesconsensusThe Morning Show
Jason Momoa ofGame of Thrones tars in a dystopian drama set 600 years in thes
future. A virus hasafflicted humankind and leftsurvivors unable to see. Reviews were
generally unfavourable: Slate called it “violent, grim and exceptionally silly”.See
Comedy-drama following the teenage life ofpoet Emily Dickinson, played byEdge of
Seventeen’s Hailee Steinfeld. It is the best eviewed of Apple TV+’s shows so far. Ther
Hollywood Reporter described it as“Euphoria y way ofb Little Women”.Dickinson
Reviews were mixed for this alternative history in which the Soviets land on the moon
before the Americans, propelling a pace race. “Even walking a different path,s For All
Mankindfinds ways to take one step forward and a giant leap back,” wrote Indiewire.For All Mankind
The $4.99 monthly price
was described by CEO
Tim Cook this week as
‘a gift to our users’
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