The Oscars have always been a celebration of the best in filmmaking, but this year saw no shortage of new releases. The Best Picture category was especially crowded with 15 nominees, making it difficult to determine who deserved recognition. Now that “CODA” has won Best Original Screenplay and will be opening up Oscar night for discussion about diversity in Hollywood, we can finally see if quality over quantity did win out on Oscar night.
The “Academy Awards Winners” is a film that was released in 2017. The movie, which was directed by Damien Chazelle and starred Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, won Best Picture at the 90th Academy Awards.
With tastemakers, Apple Inc.’s AAPL 1.91 percent boutique-store approach to streaming is paying well.
Despite the fact that Apple TV+’s repertoire isn’t as extensive as Netflix Inc.’s or Walt Disney Co.’s Disney+, it has been a critical favourite. The Academy Award triumph for “CODA” on Sunday night is the first time a streaming service has won best picture, and it comes only months after Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso” won Best Comedy at the Emmy Awards.
Launched in 2019, Apple TV+ has opted for a more tactical approach to streaming than its rivals—Netflix, Amazon.com Inc.’s AMZN 0.19% Prime Video, Disney+ and AT&T Inc.’s HBO Max—which are locked in an arms race to create as much content as possible.
“It looks that Apple has really attempted to adhere to quality over quantity owing to a lack of library and [intellectual property] portfolio,” said Michael Nathanson, a media analyst with MoffettNathanson.
Apple purchased $25 million for distribution rights to “CODA” when it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2021, a Sundance record. It released the film on Apple TV+ and in a small number of cinemas for a short time.
Apple TV+, which is led by former Sony Television executives Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, has a slew of big-name talent and corporations on board, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ridley Scott, and Imagine Entertainment.
Apple’s streaming service is part of a larger effort to diversify its income streams beyond iPhone and other hardware sales. In the October-through-December quarter, revenue from its services division, which includes Apple TV+ subscriptions, increased by approximately 24% to $19.5 billion.
‘Ted Lasso,’ a show on Apple TV+, has won the Emmy Award for Best Comedy.
Apple TV/+Everett Collection photo
While the $4.99-per-month streaming service accounts just a modest percentage of total sales, it has risen consistently since its introduction. According to Toni Sacconaghi, a Bernstein analyst, revenue for Apple TV+ than quadrupled in fiscal 2021, which runs from October to September, compared to fiscal 2020, to an expected $2.2 billion.
Apple TV+ is available to a large number of individuals without having to pay for it. Apple offers a three-month free trial of its streaming service to everyone who purchases an Apple product. Apple hasn’t revealed the exact number of Apple TV+ members, but MoffettNathanson thinks that the service has about 12 million paying consumers in the United States.
You’ll see a lot of iPhones, iPads, and other Apple gadgets if you watch an Apple TV+ program. To better understand the rationale behind all that product placement, we looked at 74 episodes of the streaming service’s biggest programming, including “Ted Lasso” and “The Morning Show.” Alex Kuzoian for The Wall Street Journal photo illustration
“The Morning Show,” a look at the world of TV news with a high-profile cast led by Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, and the new dystopian workplace thriller “Severance,” directed by Ben Stiller and starring Adam Scott and Patricia Arquette, are among Apple TV+’s blockbuster original series.
Apple has also made significant investments in news and documentary programs, including Jon Stewart’s weekly show.
Getting a successful program doesn’t ensure a streaming service’s long-term success. According to a recent Wall Street Journal review of data from subscriber-measurement firm Antenna, highly anticipated material drew a big number of new subscribers, but just half of them stayed for at least six months.
Patricia Arquette and Tramell Tillman star in Apple TV’s ‘Severance.’
Apple TV+/Everett Collection photo
Apple periodically engages in content bidding wars. It has beaten Netflix and others to numerous high-profile projects, including Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio film “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Apple, unlike most of its competitors, does not have a large library of material to draw from for its streaming platform. HBO Max depends primarily on Warner Bros. for library material, but Disney has a wealth of content, ranging from ancient movies and series to everything it absorbed when it bought 21st Century Fox’s entertainment holdings, like “The Simpsons” and “Avatar.”
Last year, Amazon’s Prime Video made its own large content purchase when it paid $6.5 billion for MGM, the legendary film and television studio. Apple considered MGM but decided against it because the price was too expensive, according to sources close to the firm.
Apple has instead struck smaller agreements, such as acquiring the rights to Charles Schulz’s Peanuts specials, such as “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
Apple is also pursuing sports as a means of increasing interest in its streaming service. It just signed an exclusive arrangement with Major League Baseball for a Friday night package of games.
Apple is also testing the National Football League’s “Sunday Ticket” package, which enables customers to watch any game on Sunday, according to individuals familiar with the situation. The current Sunday Ticket rights holder is DirecTV, however the contract will end after next season.
—This article was co-written by Bradley Olson.
Joe Flint can be reached at [email protected]
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