TV+: The offer with advertising is clearly getting closer

Ad-free streaming: what was standard in the general tariff for years is gradually disappearing – or has to be bought by customers at a higher price, as was recently the case with Amazon Prime Video. Now Apple is also considering adding advertising to its TV+ video offering. The reports currently concern Great Britain. The iPhone company is said to have already held meetings with the responsible committees there.

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Meeting with the odds counters

As The Telegraph newspaper writesApple executives met with Barb Audience Limited, the company responsible for attracting audiences in the region. It has broadcasters such as the BBC, Channel 4 and Channel 5, Sky, ITV and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) as shareholders. Barb should now record what audience ratings TV+ has achieved. In the future, additional data collection may be added that will interest advertisers.

So far, Apple has shown its own advertising on TV+, which you can skip. However, third-party ads were already running as part of its baseball broadcasts. According to the Telegraph, high prices were quoted here, which were in the millions. Barb already works with TV+ competitors such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video, which all also sell ad-supported offerings (at lower prices).

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Will Apple TV+ become cheaper with advertising?

If Apple does indeed allow advertising on TV+, the question arises as to how this will be enforced. Retroactively introducing advertising on an existing service is extremely unpopular, so Apple could introduce a cheaper tariff. Apple has already raised the prices of its TV+ several times; currently you have to pay 10 euros. This is cheaper than competitors, but the video service does not yet have a large collection like Netflix or Disney+.

The fact that Apple has recruited several managers from this sector is apt for its entry into advertising marketing. The services business is also expected to continue to grow and TV+ has only caused (high) losses to Apple so far. Apple has reportedly already invested $20 billion in its streaming service and is paying Hollywood better than its competitors.

(B.Sc.)