“I completely have the deepest respect right now for Disney,” Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph told Yahoo Finance during a recent interview. Calling Disney’s efforts “pretty clever, Randolph says “what they’re in some ways doing is emulating the Netflix playbook.” As for Apple TV+, the Netflix co-founder says Apple has “no excuse” for lagging in the streaming wars and needs to do more.
“We’re seeing the new rules of the game developing. This is not just announcing, this is not just having a promotion — what you have to demonstrate is that you have the content, content content,” Randolph explained. “And it’s not just a few things. You have to have a continuous slate of new things coming out. It’s really a war of who’s prepared to make the content.”
Currently, a free year of Apple TV Plus is gifted to buyers of its hardware devices with the hope of renewal. But according to MoffettNathanson’s Q4 2020 SVOD Tracker report, 29% of those who signed up through a free offer said they do not plan to resubscribe once the promotional period expires.
“If Apple spent one quarter as much time on content as they do on giveaways they really could play,” Randolph said, noting the company’s $2 trillion-plus market cap and $200 billion cash on hand. “They have no excuse [and] they’re still not in it with both feet. They really have to do the entrepreneurial thing and walk up to the edge of the cliff and jump.”
“Right now they have the highest churn rate. You can’t keep replacing people, you’ve got to give them a reason to stay,” he concluded.
MacDailyNews Take: Slow and steady wins the race. Apple is focused on quality over quantity. What good is a huge library of middling to junk fare that nobody wants to watch? Apple in just over a year has already spawned several critically-acclaimed, award-winning hits, including Ted Lasso, The Morning Show, Greyhound, Servant, Defending Jacob, Dickinson, and more.
As Apple keeps adding quality content to Apple TV+, it will get stickier. In year two Apple TV+ will already have an established library of quality content that people actually like and want to watch. It’ll only get better with time.
And, by the way, Apple TV+ only costs $4.99/month in full 4K quality, not $17.99/month like Netflix.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Brawndo Drinker” for the heads up.]