Apple TV+ has reached 10 million subscribers, and the platform is now looking to obtain rights to older TV shows and movies.
Bloomberg reports that the company has already started to buy rights to older content. This latest news is a shift in Apple’s strategy for its streaming service, as Apple TV+ was launched as an “all-original slate” that only included original content.
Unlike competing streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, Apple TV+ does not currently include a back catalogue of other content.
Interestingly, during Apple’s annual shareholder meeting in February, Tim Cook had stated that Apple TV+ is about original content, and that he didn’t believe it was right to “just go out and take a rerun.”
It does make sense for Apple to add older content to its platform, especially since it may be facing production delays for its originals due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The platform currently does not have enough content for it to be something that users return to often.
As for the company’s 10 million subscribers, the figure includes numerous users who are on the free one year trial. Further, only about half of the number have actively used the streaming service.
Since the free trials will start to expire in November, Apple is looking for ways to turn many of the 10 million users into paying customers.
Reports have indicated that Apple is looking into content deals for franchises like James Bond, and is also hoping to add sports content to the service.
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