Apple’s Playing A Different Game Than Everyone Else On TV

With so many streaming services out there, it’s understandable that they all get lumped together. But really, most of the major players have very different goals in mind.

Netflix wants to replace all of traditional TV, while Paramount+ and Peacock are long-term replacements for specific linear networks owned by their respective parent companies. Disney+ just wants to keep you in the franchise, while Disney ignores Hulu internationally to stunt its value (and coast on the international value of the Hotstar name) and avoid paying Comcast more for its remaining stake in Hulu in 2024. HBO Max wants to be HBO.

Then there are the biggest outliers. Amazon’s a tech company that also happens to have a streaming service, and it’s easy to guess that most Amazon Prime Video subscribers are there via Amazon Prime subscriptions, not the other way around. The video service is a nice-to-have, it wins awards, etc. It’s also a gateway to paying for additional content, goods and unrelated-to-video services.

And then there’s Apple, which is playing an entirely different game altogether with streaming.

While all of the services above pursue a high volume of content while mixing in the BIG programming that drives subscriptions, reduces churn, and/or wins awards, Apple TV+ isn’t in the same boat.

Yes, it’s ultimately a marketing tool for Apple’s high-margin hardware business (and what a marketing tool it is as the Wall Street Journal dove into last month), but it’s a marketing tool that seems to traffic on a limited supply of premium programming that’s expensive to make and subscribe to. When you subscribe to Apple TV+, sure they’d like you to stick around all day. But they’re just as fine with you watching an episode of Ted Lasso and going on your merry way. You’ll be back, after all. This mimics the Apple retail experience too, when you think about it. Once you’ve walked in the door of the Apple Store once, why not pop your head in again?

All of that is why a report that there are fewer than 20 million Apple TV+ subscribers doesn’t really matter for the company. And it doesn’t dampen the excitement from Ted Lasso or The Morning Show’s Emmy wins. Or Jon Stewart’s potential win at some point in the future.

Yes, subscribers would be nice, and they’ll get to those. But if you recall how scarce Apple hardware products used to be, then you’ll see that this is exactly where the company wants to be. They want to be a premium product unavailable to the masses. They enjoy and tout the awards, and are willing to pay a price to remain a premium product in the eyes of consumers. That’s why they’re paying a lot of talented people for high-brow shows now. It’s why they kept going past a weaker first season of For All Mankind to get to a much stronger second. And it’s why they’ll probably keep paying for The Foundation and shows like it, no matter how well (or not) things go early.

Apple’s basically making pre-cable TV. There’s no fail-fast mantra. They’ll invest in what they think will work and see how it goes over the course of several seasons. Apple will spend money to make something work, because they basically have all the money in the world to make that happen. The hardware business pays the bills here. The TV “network” so to speak is vanity to say they could, but not in the same way you could argue Amazon’s television foray is. Apple isn’t tied to a popular delivery service. They’ll pay their way to relevance. And have. And THEN, they’ll do something big to cement themselves in the greater consumer consciousness.

That “big” thing is potentially being the new home of NFL Sunday Ticket. Like iTunes and the iPod and then the iPhone before it, a Sunday Ticket-enhanced Apple TV+ would bring the masses in the door, THEN sell them on the premium Apple franchise (shows, mobile devices, watches, desktop computers, etc.). If Apple can land the NFL, it has arguably the most captive audience in the country at its beck and call. Sunday Ticket would be a season-long Apple ad, really… Apple’s already made its bed with the NFL as it is.

Data from iSpot shows that NFL games have made up over 27% of Apple iPhone national TV ad spend this year (through Oct. 4) and was nearly 45% last year in the same timeframe. Apple’s already been invested in fans seeing its products alongside NFL content. Doing so in a Sunday Ticket environment wouldn’t make them bat an eye.

So we know Apple’s playing a different game on TV. Could anyone else play that same game long-term? Amazon’s the most obvious answer, but it would take a lot of effort to flip the dynamic there to make the streaming service the foot in the door for retail. Netflix is trying to play catch-up on the diversified revenue stream standpoint.

Disney’s probably your only true competitor, since its multi-platform marketing effort has long been about getting you in the door with one thing, and then getting you to keep buying in with the rest of the offering. The Mouse House has a ton of entry points but no fixed migration for where they want you to end up. Disney also has linear TV and theme park bloat to reckon with right now that Apple doesn’t and won’t.

A lack of competition doesn’t mean Apple just takes over TV, though. The company got a head start on personal computers and look what happened. Same goes for MP3 players as we knew them and smartphones, and they didn’t turn those into monopolies. Apple was later to the streaming game and even if it’s approaching things differently, there’s no reality where it can become the only game in town.

Now we get to see if its approach pays off to make it the best game in town, though, down the road.