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.

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Top Rated Comments

Total Respray Avatar
17 months 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
17 months 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
17 months 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
17 months 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
17 months ago
Slow Horses series. Better of all the others combined.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NapZzz Avatar
17 months ago
If strange things can be watched in  TV+, that will definitely be f**king incredible.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)