Apple’s CEO transition will undoubtedly impact the whole company to varying degrees, including its services division. A new report sheds light on how John Ternus might approach the Apple TV streaming service specifically.
Incoming CEO John Ternus might have bigger ambitions for Apple TV
John Ternus, Apple’s incoming CEO, built his career in hardware. Though he recently took on design leadership too, Ternus’s expertise has always been hardware.
As a result, fans of Apple services like Apple TV may wonder about the future of those efforts.
Hollywood has long questioned whether Apple’s streaming efforts are a long-term strategy or short-term experiment, and the new CEO being a hardware expert has raised those concerns again. Here’s Matt Belloni on X:
However, a new Deadline report has encouraging claims about Ternus’s interest in Apple TV specifically.
People inside Apple’s Cupertino HQ and in L.A. also call Ternus a fan of the streaming service [who] watches its programming. “If anything, John wants to make it more competitive,” says one Apple insider. […]
Ternus attended Apple TV’s F1 premiere and is a known racing fan. Apple TV last fall inked a five-year rights deal for Formula 1 in the U.S. Ternus also is said to have a strong relationship with Apple Services SVP Eddy Cue, who oversees Apple TV.
Making Apple TV more competitive presumably would mean ramping up budgets and output so the streamer can better compete with the likes of Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max.
Even though Apple TV has a strong reputation for offering high-quality content, it’s still ultimately a niche player compared to most competitors.
Apple hasn’t shared official subscriber numbers, but Apple TV rarely shows up in Nielsen streaming data. Recently Monarch: Legacy of Monsters made the top 10 charts, but even in that case, it only hit number 10.
As a big Apple TV fan myself, I just hope Ternus at minimum stays the course and lets the streamer keep playing to its strengths.
Would you want John Ternus to change anything about Apple TV? If so, what? Let us know in the comments.
Apple TV is available for $12.99 per month, or you can get it discounted through the Apple One bundle.
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