Apple’s original content spending spree might finally be over

Apple is known to spend billions of dollars on its Hollywood projects, but that could be set to change following production losses across the wider streaming industry. According to Bloomberg, Apple’s senior vice president of services, Eddy Cue, is pushing studio chiefs Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht to oversee project budgets more closely in a bid to make its Apple TV Plus streaming business more sustainable.

Apple invests heavily in individual projects compared to larger streaming companies like Netflix, having spent over $500 million on movies from directors Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon), Ridley Scott (Napoleon), and Matthew Vaughn (Argylle). While its original projects get plenty of attention during award seasons, Bloomberg reports that Apple TV Plus is attracting fewer views per month than Netflix averages in a single day.

According to figures reported by Nielsen, Apple TV Plus accounts for 0.2 percent of US TV views, which is dwarfed by Netflix’s 8 percent. As it struggles to encroach on Netflix’s viewership figures, Apple is now quicker to cancel its original series projects compared to when the Apple TV Plus service first launched in 2019. The company is also licensing more content from competitors to reduce its reliance on original series and has delayed production on shows like Foundation in an attempt to remain within budget.

It’s unclear just how many people are actually watching Apple’s original programming since the tech giant won’t even share figures with the people making its shows. Apple TV Plus hasn’t been as quick to lay off staffers compared to rivals like Disney and Paramount, though, and the money bought in by selling iPhones and other tech hardware makes it difficult to know how much pressure its studios are under.