Virtually precisely six years after it launched, Apple TV is at an inflection level. Within the span of every week, the streaming service rebranded itself, struck its first standalone bundle take care of a competitor, and inked arguably its most vital sports activities rights deal but.
Taken collectively, it means that the tech big is gearing as much as drive (pun supposed) new subscribers and viewers to the service, which is cherished amongst Hollywood sorts for its premium authentic content material, and feared for its perceived lack of scale.
Apple’s foray into streaming leisure has been a sluggish construct, with Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht basically constructing a streaming service from scratch. However six years later Apple TV continues to be struggling to seek out an viewers, relegated to the “different streaming” class in Nielsen’s month-to-month Gauge report — under the likes of Hallmark, AMC Community and Scripps in TV utilization market share. Nor does Apple TV have a single sequence or film at the moment on the highest 10 of Nielsen’s streaming charts.
Apple has additionally not launched any subscriber figures, although Eddy Cue, the pinnacle of the corporate’s companies division, advised a podcast earlier this month that it’s “considerably extra” than 45 million, which is what some outdoors analysts have estimated.
So the choice by Cue to rebrand Apple TV+ as merely Apple TV (or as the corporate referred to as the change, a “a vibrant new identification”), adopted briefly order by the key partnership with NBCUniversal to launch an Apple TV-Peacock bundle, steered that change was within the air.
Apple and Peacock had been each considered subscale streamers, and each had been allergic to bundling outdoors of some telecom partnerships, however the brand new deal will “carry Apple TV’s beloved exhibits and films to extra viewers in additional locations,” stated Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vp of Apple TV, Apple Music, Sports activities, and Beats.
After which on Oct. 17, Apple capped off the week with its long-expected however nonetheless blockbuster $750 million deal for Method One rights within the U.S. It was a deal that Cue steered was in keeping with the corporate’s long-term considering: “We love wanting ahead,” Cue advised reporters.
“That is one thing that we’ve dreamed of, in a means, and from the start of our imaginative and prescient for Apple TV, we needed to ship prospects the perfect tales from essentially the most inventive storytellers,” Cue stated. “We launched in 2019, and we began with 9 authentic sequence, and now we’ve received a deep library of over 300 exhibits and films and hundreds of hours, and everybody on Apple TV within the U.S. will now get Method One, they’re going to get every thing that Method One has to supply, and it’s going to be wonderful, as a result of we’re centered on high quality and creating unbelievable content material, and there’s no extra unbelievable content material than Method One.”
Cue stated that the timing of the Peacock bundle and F1 deal was a “coincidence,” however it’s simply one other instance of how change is within the air at Apple, altering the title, altering the bundling technique, and altering sports activities ambitions, which so far have been restricted to a take care of Main League Soccer, and Friday night time Main League Baseball video games.
Apple TV MLB Friday Night time Baseball sideline reporter Tricia Whitaker interviews George Springer of the Toronto Blue Jays following a recreation in opposition to the Seattle Mariners in April.
Vaughn Ridley/Getty Photographs
“I’m an enormous F1 fan, however I’m additionally an enormous sports activities fan, and one of many issues that we needed to do if we had been going to supply some degree of sports activities is to have the ability to do it in a means that’s what I feel sports activities followers need, which is simple entry, accessible, similar location, similar place, they know precisely the place to get it, the place it’s coming from, the entire complexities that you just take care of in sports activities and watching going away,” Cue stated, when requested by The Hollywood Reporter about how the brand new deal matches into the corporate’s sports activities technique.
Cue added, “And I feel for followers of F1 it’s going to be extremely straightforward. It’s going to supply capabilities that they’ve by no means had earlier than, simply due to the power of getting the app and having the ability to work intently with F1 and what we’re in a position to do collectively that lets us differentiate. That’s laborious to do. It takes a whole dedication from us and from the league or the sports activities entity and that’s the way in which we take a look at it.”
Or as CFRA analyst Angelo Zino explains: “The deal displays Apple’s strategic strategy to stay sports activities, specializing in unique rights that permit full management over person expertise quite than conventional sports activities broadcasting fashions.”
Past Peacock, Apple has reduce different offers over the past 12 months in service of increasing the service, from a take care of Amazon to carry Apple TV to Prime Video Channels, to a partnership with Chase earlier this 12 months to present Sapphire Reserve bank card holders complimentary subscriptions to Apple TV and Apple Music.
They’re decisions which have caught the attention of the inventive neighborhood as effectively, a neighborhood that Apple has been deftly supporting by means of its high-profile and star-studded sequence and movies.
“Selfishly, I feel it’s nice as a result of extra folks get to see our present,” Severance govt producer and director Ben Stiller advised THR earlier this 12 months. “To have the ability to broaden the viewers for sure exhibits that typically folks won’t have the ability to watch as a result of they’re having to make decisions on streamers — which I perceive, too, it’s only a unusual new time when it comes to the way you make these decisions to look at issues.”
Eddie Segura of Los Angeles FC, seen throughout an Apple TV interview earlier than a match in opposition to Austin FC on October 12, 2025 in Austin, Texas.
Scott Wachter/Getty Photographs
And throughout the promoting trade, advertising and marketing veterans are questioning whether or not the modifications Apple has made to Apple TV (together with a steep 30 p.c value hike in August) imply that much more change is coming: Maybe a less expensive ad-supported tier?
Apple TV is the one main streaming service with out an advert tier, although it does characteristic restricted promoting on each Main League Soccer programming and its Friday night time MLB video games. A supply conversant in the matter says that Apple’s F1 protection will embrace commercials, although in step with ESPN’s protection, there won’t be advertisements whereas automobiles are on the observe throughout the Grand Prix races.
However as a number of promoting world sources be aware, Apple has employed its justifiable share of TV and streaming video veterans over the previous couple of years, which, when mixed with this newfound need to chop offers to develop Apple TV’s attain, is definitely suggestive of broader ambitions.
“After we speak about Apple, I consider they’re speaking about not solely expertise, not solely connectivity, you’re speaking about social relevancy,” stated Stefano Domenicali, the CEO of F1.
The tech big has the social foreign money, now Apple needs to journey the F1 wave, its new model, and its newfound partnerships, to streaming relevancy.
Apple TV hasn’t but cracked Nielsen’s closely-watched month-to-month Gauge report.
