Apple TV+ serves up zero new content for second week running

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Switched off TV
Nothing new to watch on Apple TV+ this weekend.
Photo: PJ Gal-Szabo/Unsplash

For the second week in a row, Apple TV+ has had a quiet Friday — with zero new content uploaded to the streaming service.

By comparison, this week Netflix debuted seven new series including Next in Fashion, Ragnarok and a sixth season of BoJack Horseman. Disney+, meanwhile, delivered new episodes of Diary of a Future President and Marvel Hero Project, exclusive short Lamp Life and the 2019 Lion King remake.

As I’ve written before, I’m a big fan of Apple TV+ as far as quality goes. The service hasn’t had a miss yet — and it’s had quite a few hits. To me, Little America, Servant and The Morning Show are standouts. But even shows I wasn’t immediately won over by, such as See, are solid entertainment.

The problem comes down to quantity. Right now, Cupertino charges $5 a month for Apple TV+. For the past two weeks, that $2.50 netted you zero new content on Apple TV+. If you bought an Apple device in recent months, you can get Apple TV+ as a free extra. That’s the smarter way to go. But you’d struggle to justify Apple TV+ as a standalone subscription when it’s in the same pricing ballpark as Netflix and Disney+.

Zero new content on Apple TV+

There’s an interesting observation on Macworld about how people shouldn’t write off Apple TV+ too quickly. The publication points out that Amazon also debuted barely any content in its first year of Amazon Studios. In 2013, Amazon produced only two shows: Alpha House and Betas. However, unless I’m wrong, Amazon also offered a content library of existing movies. And it packaged its video content as part of Amazon Prime, rather than its own standalone service. Plus, the streaming landscape was nowhere near as competitive at the time.

Macworld is absolutely right that Apple often takes a while to get things off the ground. The first generation of any Apple device typically needs work to polish it into the must-have product it becomes. If Apple were to buy a movie studio like MGM, that would help fill out its content library. Apple TV+ also promises some great upcoming shows — not least the brilliant-looking Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet.

But there’s a long way to go before it’s going to look competitive with the other giants in the streaming field. Hey, at least Apple has no plans to add ads to Apple TV+!

 

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