Malcolm Owen
Apple has hired away an advertising executive from NBCUniversal, as it continues to build out its rumored video ad business for Apple TV+.
Apple has been rumored to be adding advertising to Apple TV+ for a while, which could help raise Apple's revenue for the streaming service. It appears that it is still fleshing out the team that will helm the effort.
Joseph Cady, an NBCUniversal ad executive, has reportedly jumped ship and signed up with Apple, according to Business Insider. A 14-year exec for NBCU, Cady oversaw partnerships with other tech giants, having previously worked in development and strategy positions.
It is thought that Cady will be working with Winston Crawford, Apple's head of global ad sales and chief of a team that supports Apple TV+. He is also expected to work with Lauren Fry, another video ad sales executive.
The hiring is the latest in a string of similar moves by Apple to secure people with experience in video and TV ad sales. Apple's hiring spree is likely to be part of a larger effort to introduce an advertising tier to the ad-free Apple TV+ service.
Currently, Apple doesn't offer a version of Apple TV+ with any advertising, but that hasn't stopped its rivals from doing so. Netflix launched a "Basic with Ads" tier in 2022, while Amazon Prime Video introduced advertisements in late 2023 unless customers paid $2.99 per month.
Apple does have some experience with video advertising. During 2023, it did sell some screen time to advertisers for some Major League Soccer matches, with live TV a promising venue for serving commercials to users.
AppleInsider Staff
Oliver Haslam
Andrew O'Hara
Wesley Hilliard
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
22 Comments
Apple, please Think Different and don’t do this. ATV+ is so clean and simple (I’ve been a user since day one).
quote: “Apple has hired away an advertising executive from NBCUniversal, as it continues to build out its rumored video ad business for Apple TV+.”
First, my thought. Then, my wish.
Rumors usually follow the… normal path of general business… and apply that conclusions to Apple. But Apple… at leas as I see it… follows other… self-choosen… rules.
Streaming media lives on ad-revenues… except Apple. In other companies… including a cheaper tier with ads is a way to get more subscriptions.
But… Apple has opted for ‘quality of programming’ and… obviously… the best user experience.
That… for me… means ‘avoid TV ads.’ That's my thought.
But as Apple is hiring ad people… it is obvious that… something is being cooked.
And my wish is… that Apple TV+ stay always free of ads… but sports could include them!
In soccer's World Cup… in the TV transmissions… there are advertisement in the side of the field but there are also ‘blocks’ where the local TV station add its own advertisements.
Maybe… soccer or baseball… or anything coming in the subject… could include ‘in screen’ advertisements or… advertisement in between actions and games.
Once again… I hope we never see any ad-supported tier in Apple TV+!
Gross. If this happens I’d probably ditch paying for it and move to piracy. Apple One costs so much as it isI like Apple Music, but I’m sure I could pirate everything I have. I loath advertising, it’s one of the reasons I never use New+ despite having it.
Last Man Standing….
Personally, the number 1 annoyance of the Internet are ads. Actually, number 2-23 as well.
Could Apple “afford” to not place ads? To give more than 5GB free iCloud Storage? Go into the market of making some of the friggin’ best-to-use routers? I think they could without going bankrupt. And certainly delight lots of users that love High Quality, “Just works”, “Apple’s different” etc.
Undortunately, in a parallel world, that might work. Here, unfortunately, more is always better.. And sometimes considered not enough. What stays is the Kobe that at least there will be an ad-free tier somewhere in the offering.
If Apple TV+ starts ads, I will drop my subscription. I hate ads. They disrupt the flow of the story. I pay for steaming to avoid them.