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Apple’s New Streaming Service Raises Questions and Concerns Apple’s New Streaming Service Raises Concerns for Consumers

Apple TV+ raises questions about the future of consumer television.

By Frank Salerno

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, presented their new streaming service, Apple TV+, in Cupertino on Monday.
© 2019 Associated Press

Daniella Petrocelli: Today, Apple announced a new TV streaming service called Apple TV+. Frank Salerno explains how the tech giant intends to challenge other streaming services.

Frank Salerno: Apple TV+ will offer original content of their own through directors and creators like Steven Spielberg. Les Rose, a professor at the Newhouse School of Public Communications, says Apple’s 1 billion dollar investment, versus Netflix’s 8 billion dollar investment, into original content, will rely on the quality of the product.

Les Rose: If Apple wants to get launched, with less content, you mentioned a billion versus 8 billion, then it better be great content.

Salerno: Apple TV+ will carry the products of other major streaming services, like HBO and CBS All Access. Rose thinks consumers will look for the best bang for their buck when choosing a streaming service to buy.

Rose: As long as they can offer something great for 4 or 5 dollars a month, to get it launched, for the first year, then they are going to be a contender.

Salerno: Apple TV+ will be available in Fall of 2019. Frank Salerno, N-C-C News.

SYRACUSE, NY (NCC News) – Apple announced on Monday that it will join the crowded field of video streaming services, alongside established giants such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. Apple executives intend that  the new product, Apple TV+, will  change the way consumers consume video streaming products.

With Apple TV+, consumers can  stream several different products, including content from industry leaders like HBO, Showtime, CBS All Access and Starz, within the Apple TV+ platform. This service is called Apple TV Channels. Along with this addition to its  services, Apple also introduced a slew of new original content to be included in Apple TV+, headlined by a reboot of the 1980s series “Amazing Stories,” for which  Steven Spielberg served as executive producer.

Apple executives revealed Monday the company  invested $1 billion in 2018 into original content, spearheaded by creators such as Spielberg, and Star Wars director J.J. Abrams. This investment may seem minuscule, however, compared to Netflix’s $8 billion investment into the same field in 2018.

Les Rose, a broadcast and digital journalism professor at Syracuse University, said it might be hard for some middle-class families to pay for the service, with such little content available at launch.

“You figure if its families and some singles out there buying this product, then how much more per month can they afford,” said Rose. “If Apple wants to get [Apple TV+] launched with less content, then it better be good content.”

Along with Apple TV+, the tech-giant also introduced Apple News, a news platform that follows a similar format to Apple TV Channels, bringing many different news outlets under one app’s figurative umbrella.

“I worry about lower-middle class and lower income people,” Rose said. “Does this mean that broadcast stations will literally no longer be broadcasted? How will [lower-middle class families] afford the content, and how will they afford real news information if streaming becomes the only source.”

Apple TV+ will launch in the Fall 2019, but people can begin to subscribe to channels on Apple TV as early as May.

Reported by
Frank Salerno

Frank Salerno

Frank Salerno is a sophomore Broadcast and Digital Journalism major and a Music History and Cultures minor at Syracuse University. Along with work for NCC News, he is also the Sports Director for CitrusTV. He is from Bergen County, New Jersey.

Other stories by Frank Salerno

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