Mikey Campbell
Potentially ending months of speculation surrounding Apple's planned pricing policy for Apple TV+, Apple CEO Tim Cook on Tuesday hinted that the upcoming original content service will be available on a subscription basis.
Fielding questions on Apple's recent push into services during an investor conference call, Cook likened Apple TV+ to an over-the-top product similar to those offered by major networks and content holders.
"The TV+ product plays in a market where there's a huge move from the cable bundle to over-the-top," Cook said. "We think that most users are going to get multiple over-the-top products and we're going to do our best to convince them that the Apple TV+ product should be one of them."
Unlike cable subscription schemes, over-the-top streaming services provide users a la carte access to TV and movie content. Typically, the offering is limited to an individual service, channel or group of channels owned by a content holder and is therefore cheaper than traditional cable tiers. Further, over-the-top systems are cost efficient in that viewers pay only for the content they want, rather than a bundle that includes channels that might go unwatched.
Apple unveiled Apple TV+ at a special event in March, but failed to disclose details on pricing.
As part of a "sneak peek" at programming set to debut on the service, Apple trotted out A-list Hollywood stars like Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell and Jason Momoa to present first looks at their forthcoming projects.
Rumors claimed the TV+ would be a free, value-added service available to Apple device owners through the new TV app, with Apple generating revenue on its investment via subscriptions sold to third-party services. Previous reports said the company at one point mulled a bundle that would integrate TV+ with Apple News+ and Apple Music.
Judging by Cook's statements today, it appears Apple TV+ will instead be listed as a for-pay subscription solution, putting it in competition with the likes of Netflix and Hulu.
Apple TV+ is slated to launch this fall.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
43 Comments
Lol. They have completely lost the plot. No one is going to pay for this, unless it comes with content we don’t already know about (as in, iTunes Store movie and tv content).
As long as Apple has a few really big series or shows that people will pay to watch, then the service will do ok I think. And as we all know, Apple has plenty of cash to produce and finance content. Now they just need to deliver and actually end up with some good stuff. There will also be new content added all of the time I would assume, so after a few years, Apple should have a nice and growing library of content.
Look at CBS All Access, they launched their pay service relying on basically one show, the new Star Trek reboot, which they heavily promoted. I tried that free for a month by the way, and I wasn't feeling the new Star Trek, and it wasn't worth paying anything for, in my opinion.
Will I pay for Apple TV+? I have no idea. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. I subscribe to plenty of different services from time to time. It depends on how attractive I find their offerings to be and what the cost will be.
Apple isn't stupid. They know who their competitors are in that area and what they offer, so like I said, we shall see what happens when it rolls out.
Most of its announced shows look pretty compelling, and there’s much more underway. I am pretty anti-TV and only subscribe to one video streaming service thus far — Acorn TV, which I enjoy when I have time, and provides good value for money — but I’m open to the idea of a second service.