Apple Reveals Possible Cost of Apple TV+ and Potential Subscribers Balk in Response

Apple Reveals Possible Streaming Service’s Cost and Potential Subscribers Balk in Response

Apple has floated the possible cost of its new streaming service and like the publicity rollout of the service, it has not gone over as expected. Apple is suggesting $9.99 a month for its subscription video on-demand service and on the very surface, that sounds reasonable. Here is the problem: only five TV shows will be available for the service when it launches. That is the entirety of its launch catalogue.

A Month of Entertainment (No More Than That)

My questions about this price point are: How do you charge $9.99 a month for only five TV shows? How do charge what Netflix used to charge for its service but only offer 1/100,000,000,000 of Netflix’s previous content? Shouldn’t your goal be to be competitive with other streaming services? How are you being competitive with such drastically limited content?

A scenario – let’s say you spend $9.99, get a Apple TV+ subscription, and spread out the five Apple TV+ launch TV shows over a month. Assuming all episodes are available, you binge one of the five TV shows every six days. After a month, you have watched all five TV shows.

By month two of your Apple TV+ subscription, you’ve watched all of their content. The thrifty in this scenario would binge all five TV shows in the first month  then cancel their subscription before their subscription re-ups for the second month.

Apple TV+’s Lack of Content

Why would you launch a new streaming service with only five titles?:

“The Morning Show” (starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell), Steven Spielberg’s revival of “Amazing Stories,” “See” featuring Jason Momoa from “Aquaman” fame, “Truth Be Told” with actress Octavia Spencer and “Home,” a documentary series about extravagant houses.

In comparison, Disney+ is launching with eight original TV shows, over thirty other TV series, three hundred movie titles and is only charging $6.99. In its first year, Disney+ will offer “500 movie titles (100 of them being “recent” theatrical film releases)…as well as 7,500 episodes of TV.” HBO Max will premiere with “10,000 hours of premium content” – movies, TV series, and original programming.

Why didn’t Apple build a giant roster of TV shows and films through acquisitions, like Disney+ and HBO Max, so that when Apple was ready to launch, it had a plethora of entertainment to offer their potential subscribers?

Why didn’t Apple bid on the 21 Century Fox intellectual properties (IP) and brands like Disney and Comcast did? Disney and Comcast saw the writing on the wall – content is king.

To be in the streaming game you need content. Netflix figured this out and made streaming deals with a vast array of TV networks and film studios. Disney figured it out and made the 21 Century Fox IP deal. HBO Max figured it out and is still expanding its launch catalogue. CBS All Access is a slow learner but with the ViacomCBS Inc deal now closed, CBS All Access’ catalogue will be potentially inundated with a plethora of IP content and recognizable name brands like Top Gun. Apple TV+, on the other hand, hasn’t figure it out, hasn’t study the industry to learn what subscribers want (i.e. content), and are only launching with five TV shows. Here is another wrinkle in Apple TV+’s launch with only five TV shows – the “company is considering offering the first three episodes of some programs, followed by weekly installments.”

When the five TV show launch strategy broke, the Internet balked in response:

https://twitter.com/davechensky/status/1163642836446662656

They already have the Netflix problem, which is that they own nothing and are competing against century-old media companies that own a ton of brands and IP. You'd think they'd at least want to be competitive on price.

— Lon Harris (@Lons) August 20, 2019

That’s an absolute JOKE with no back catalog! U gotta be a REAL fanboy to sign up for this!

— A Fellow Chucker, Eh? (@RuFiOooooh) August 20, 2019

https://twitter.com/jeffboom1/status/1163821671230296064

5 Whole Shows, bet netflix is scared. Vanity project gone wrong

— mysocialfeed2016 (@mysocialfeed216) August 20, 2019

Late, much worse and same price /more expensive than their competitors. It’s going to fail very, very hard.

— Remarkable (@RemIsBuzzin) August 20, 2019

https://twitter.com/Nicdude2/status/1163696612067008512

I feel like Disney+ is going to be driving the market rate way down for these disparate services. You’ve basically got to already be really essential right out of the gate if you are going to launch at a higher price.

— Scott Hughes (@globalreset) August 20, 2019

…Against a literal juggernaut with a lower pricepoint. pic.twitter.com/nqg6NcJLgN

— Samurai Jeff (@Samurai_Jeff) August 20, 2019

The Duality Play

When Disney+ and Apple TV+ launch this Fall, a duality play will commence. The streaming and business industries will watch as one company does everything right, one company does everything wrong, and how their streaming service launch strategies effect both businesses.

When those first subscribers tallies come out in the forth quarter of 2019, the difference between Disney+ and Apple TV+ will be staggering.

The Tech Advantage Thrown Away

Apple should have the advantage in the streaming game. They have the cash to purchase and create original content and they have something Disney and WarnerMedia don’t have  – tech. Apple products that can stream Apple TV+ content are already in the homes, pockets, and on desktops of millions of people around the world. Apple already has tech subscribers. Apple simply had to turn them into streaming subscribers. Apple will not accomplish that with an Apple TV+ launch that contains only five TV shows.

The Chart

Here is how I perceive the streaming war to look like in the next ten years (by subscribers):

1. Disney+

2. Netflix

3. HBO Max

4. CBS All Access

5. Amazon Prime

6. Hulu

7. Comcast

8. NBCUniversal

7. Apple TV+

DC Universe does not make the list because I do not believe DC Universe will last even two more years. WarnerMedia owns HBO Max and is already placing DC Comics TV adaptations (Batwoman and Doom Patrol) on HBO Max. HBO Max will want exclusivity to make HBO Max more valuable to its subscribers so they will dissolve DC Universe (offering its subscribers a HBO Max subscription deal or a refund) near HBO Max’s launch date in 2020 or shortly there after.

YouTube didn’t make the list because they will soon be offering all of their original content for free to YouTube visitors.

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