Apple’s Eddy Cue: Apple TV+ Has A Different Model Than Netflix, Focuses More on Quality, Not Quantity
The launch of Apple’s streaming service, Apple TV+ has been buzzworthy since its launch was announced back in March. Over the past few months the company has been working to make sure that the service, which launches in the fall, will be able to compete with market holders, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue, addressed any concerns regarding the fact that Apple is arriving to the streaming TV space a little bit late, reminding everyone that the company—which wasn’t the first produce computers, cellphones or tablets—was never about haste, but about being the best. “We try to be the best, and we don’t have to be the first to be the best,” he said.
Cue also explained that the company is well aware of its blind spots and while Apple doesn’t know a lot about the streaming video space, the hiring of former Sony executives Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg and UK Channel 4’s Jay Hunt is meant to amend those weaknesses. He told The Times, “Look, we don’t know a lot about television other than we are big consumers of it, but that doesn’t quite qualify you as an expert by any means,” he said. “The thing that we’re smart about is when we don’t know about something we want to get into, we go and find the best people for it.”
Cue also addressed the comparisons to Netflix. While Apple appreciates Nexflix’s model of constantly churning out content, he assured readers that Apple TV+ will be doing things differently. “Their motto is to create a lot of content so there’s always something for you to watch, and it’s working really well,” Cue remarked. “There’s nothing wrong with that model, but it’s not our model.”
A list of original programming was revealed earlier this year and it includes Little Voice created by J.J. Abrams and Sara Bareilles, Amazing Stories by Steven Spielberg, and Oprah’s Book Club by Oprah Winfrey, just to name a few. In June, Apple released the first trailer for the Ronald D. Moore space drama, For All Mankind.
Since the company announced the launch of Apple TV+, they haven’t revealed too much detail about the platform. As of today, pricing for the service is still unknown. With Disney+ launching in November for $6.99 a month, many speculate that the service will be less than $5 a month, or even free to Apple TV-owners.
Cue did reveal that Apple will release new content every month, and the first series out of the gate will likely be the workplace drama, The Morning Show, which will feature Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston.