Apple Looking to License More Movies to Expand Apple TV+ Library

Apple is in active talks to license more films from major Hollywood studios as it seeks to bolster Apple TV+, according to Bloomberg.

Apple TV Plus Feature 2 Dark Teal
Apple has traditionally focused on original productions for its streaming platform, but it is increasingly looking to expand its offerings by acquiring programming from the extensive libraries of established studios, sources familiar with the matter claim. While ‌Apple TV‌+ has seen some success with original series such as "Ted Lasso" and "The Morning Show," these hits have been relatively few and far between, and the service has struggled to match the extensive catalogs of competitors like Netflix and Disney+.

‌Apple TV‌+ launched in November 2019, positioning itself as a premium service with a slate of high-quality, original content. Despite receiving critical acclaim and numerous awards, including 72 Emmy nominations this year, ‌Apple TV‌+ has not garnered the same subscriber base as its competitors. According to the research firm MoffettNathanson, only 11% of U.S. households use ‌Apple TV‌+, compared to 55% for Netflix. The limited scope of content available on ‌Apple TV‌+ is apparently seen as a significant factor contributing to its slower growth. Data from Antenna indicates that streaming services with larger content libraries, like Netflix, experience lower cancellation rates.

In an effort to address this, Apple has already begun experimenting with licensing. Earlier this year, the company licensed approximately 50 movies from Hollywood studios for its service in the United States, adding popular titles such as "Mean Girls" and "Titanic" to its catalog. The positive reception to this initial batch of licensed films is said to have encouraged Apple to pursue additional deals. These discussions aim to license even more titles, potentially expanding the service's offerings internationally as well as domestically. Simultaneously, major studios such as Warner Bros., Discovery, and Disney are increasingly open to selling their content to rivals to boost revenue.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 8 New Features

Thursday January 9, 2025 5:45 am PST by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. iPhone 17 Pro concept based on rumors Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of January 2025: More aluminum: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models ...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

New Apple TV and HomePod Mini Launching This Year With One Thing in Common

Wednesday January 8, 2025 6:18 am PST by
It was recently reported that new Apple TV and new HomePod mini models will launch this year, and the devices are expected to have one thing in common. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last month reported that the new Apple TV and the new HomePod mini will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip. Gurman said the chip supports Wi-Fi 6E, so that could end up being a key upgrade...
iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

New iPhone SE and iPad 11 Launch Timing Allegedly Revealed by Leaker

Tuesday January 7, 2025 11:12 am PST by
A new iPhone SE and an iPad 11 might be coming very soon. In late December, a private account on X with a track record of leaking accurate iOS-related information said devices codenamed "V59" and "J481" will be released alongside iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has previously reported that "V59" is a new iPhone SE, and that "J481" is a new entry-level iPad. iOS 15.3, iOS ...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

5 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's MacBook Pro

Wednesday January 8, 2025 6:33 am PST by
Apple in October 2024 overhauled its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, adding M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips, Thunderbolt 5 ports on higher-end models, display changes, and more. That's quite a lot of updates in one go, but if you think this means a further major refresh for the MacBook Pro is now several years away, think again. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said he expects only a small...
airpods pro 2 botw

Hearing a Mysterious Chime From Your AirPods Pro Case? It's a Feature

Thursday January 9, 2025 3:42 pm PST by
If you've been hearing a chiming sound from your AirPods Pro 2 case when the AirPods are charging, it's a feature that Apple added with the launch of Hearing Health last year. In a support guide, Apple says that the AirPods Pro may play a sound every so often while in the case to ensure the microphones and speakers are working as intended. From Apple: To help ensure that your AirPods...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.2.1 With Bug Fixes

Monday January 6, 2025 10:07 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 18.2.1 and iPadOS 18.2.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems. iOS 18.2.1 and iPadOS 18.2.1 come almost a month after Apple released iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release notes, iOS 18.2.1...
airpods 4 blue

Apple's Student Offer With Free AirPods Returns in These Four Countries

Thursday January 9, 2025 7:18 am PST by
Apple's annual "Back to School" or "Back to Uni" promotion has returned this week in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and South Korea. From January 8 through March 13, qualifying higher-education students and staff in these countries can receive free AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation with the purchase of any new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or iMac, or a free Apple Pencil Pro or Apple...
LG UltraFine 6K Display TB5

LG Unveils UltraFine 6K Display With Thunderbolt 5 Support

Tuesday January 7, 2025 3:56 am PST by
LG has shown off a new Ultrafine 6K monitor at CES 2025. The 32-inch display is the first of its kind to support Thunderbolt 5, which Apple introduced late last year with the launch of new Mac mini and MacBook Pro models powered by M4 Pro chips. Details are scant, but we do know that the LG UltraFine 6K monitor (model 32U990A) features a Nano IPS Black panel, delivering a wide color gamut...

Top Rated Comments

Total Respray Avatar
25 weeks ago
It would be good if they would licence any further content worldwide and not just the US. Especially given we all pay - more or less - the same price.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
anthogag Avatar
25 weeks ago
Licensing older movies and shows that are already on other streaming services just to increase the catalog is boring.

Great shows bring customers to a platform. Apple should spend its money on trying to make or get original hit entertainment.

If they're going to licence movies get the new movies that come to streaming after playing in theatres.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
25 weeks ago
Just before and throughout the time that AppleTV+ has existed, multiple major studios with huge libraries have been put up for sale... often with Apple rumored to be among the bidders. Apple never "wins" such auctions if they actually are among those seriously interested.

Putting a little bit of the massive vaults of cash (or the massive Apple debt) to acquire the entire 20th Century Fox library or the entire Warner Library, or MGM, etc would have loaded AppleTV+ with abundant classic content. Apple didn't want to pay for it.

The behemoth Paramount Pictures was available in the last few months, the owner of "a mountain" of desirable content, a big library, franchise favorites, etc. How much did it cost the buyer who did buy it? A little under 3X the Beats acquisition price ('https://finance.yahoo.com/news/done-deal-paramount-global-sells-035601778.html'). Did Apple put some of that cash hoard towards buying that big bundle of content and franchises? No. Were they even rumored to be among the bidders? No. Same story every time.

Same with games. We keep running through this circular cycle of Apple being serious "now" about gaming... but when it comes to laying out the cash to buy various gaming studios to then own AAA game exclusives, Apple is often rumored among the bidders... but never actually buys. Instead, they seem to run a "build it and they will come" approach, where they roll out some interesting hardware but then expect developers to choose the "no money" approach over the "easy money" approach to developing games.

Both are easy uses for the great wells of cash or credit at Apples disposal. Instead they just sit on that cash and/or pile up more debt. Do I expect that to change? No. Apple seems to value third party content about like many of us seem to value it: they/we want the sun & the moon for nothing... but Apple to (somehow) get huge profit anyway.

Before a defender(s) fires back with something like "I'd rather Apple focus on Mac/iDevices/Software than putting money into content library acquisitions," nothing at all stops them from doing BOTH. Instead, they are doing what is apparently short-term group rentals of select content, sort of like a poor-man's Disney Vault approach... with far fewer movies & shows in rotation. You'd think it was 1997 Apple with no spare cash if you didn't know so much better.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iJulio Avatar
25 weeks ago
Makes sense. They've had a decent rotating catalogue of films recently and the streaming quality is top notch. Also, the breadth of titles they've been rotating on the service are fairly decent picks of the most popular Hollywood movies within the last decade or two.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mr Todhunter Avatar
25 weeks ago
Slow Horses series. Better of all the others combined.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NapZzz Avatar
25 weeks ago
If strange things can be watched in  TV+, that will definitely be f**king incredible.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)