Apple's services chief Eddy Cue made a rare podcast appearance on "The Town" to talk about Apple's TV subscription rebrand and reveals a few tidbits along the way.
There have been a lot of questions about Apple TV+ (now Apple TV) and how it's performing in the market. Some consider the name change confusing, but Cue doubles down, suggesting it's what people call it already.
Eddy Cue appeared on an episode of the podcast The Town, first shared by 9to5Mac, and answered a few questions about Apple TV the service, Apple TV the app, and Apple TV the set-top box. It seems the decision to change the name was a simple one.
Cue said that the "plus" was used originally because it is how other paid services were named at the company. However, he cites iCloud+, which was a name revealed in 2021 with the launch of the service — two years after Apple TV+ debuted.
He's right to note that other paid services like News+ exist with a free tier below, but that's been the exception more than the rule at Apple. Apple Fitness+ is a workout video service with no free tier, while Apple Music and Apple Arcade are paid only while lacking the plus.
Here's the full quote from the segment:
"I just decided, we just decided. Look, we put the plus in there because we've used it in our other services like iCloud+ and News+, but we do that when we have a free service and then there's a paid version. We stayed consistent because of it, but we all called it Apple TV and we said, given where we are today, it's a great time to do it, so let's just do it."
He also noted that the name change won't be confusing for customers. The Apple TV app is how customers access the service, and the hardware is called Apple TV 4K, which he believes is enough to distinguish it from the app and service.
In one segment, Cue is asked about the popularity of Apple TV+, with the podcast host citing a rumored 45 million approximate viewership. He declines to answer but does say it is "significantly more than that."
Netflix is reportedly over 300 million users, while Disney+ has around 125.8 million. So, that puts Apple somewhere closer to Paramount+, which aligns with some estimates.
Regardless of the number, Apple is losing money on the Apple TV streaming service. However, that's according to plan, as the service is meant to act as part of the whole ecosystem to drive customer engagement and spending as a whole.
Apple is expected to reveal new Apple TV hardware later in the week. Some speculate a name change is coming, but if Cue's comments are anything to go by, Apple will be leaning into the vertical stack of Apple TV in Apple TV on Apple TV.
