Not even Severance can save Apple TV+ from burning billions of dollars

Summary

Apple TV+ losing billions without ads, tough road to profitability
Netflix resolute on gaming despite setbacks
Netflix’s new series ‘Adolescence’ showcases quality content potential

The worst-kept secret in entertainment is that while streaming companies spend a lot of money on programming, these costs are very rarely covered by subscription fees alone. This is why streamers like Netflix, Max, and Disney+ are increasingly trying to make advertising a large part of their business model. And thus far, it has been working, with Netflix specifically seeing some big profit gains following the introduction of its ad-supported plan.

With ads seemingly carrying streaming companies right now, it may not come as much of a surprise to learn that Apple TV+, one of the only major streamers that doesn’t offer an ad-supported plan, is losing massive amounts of money, to the tune of a billion dollars a year since its launch in 2019, per Deadline.

And while mega-hit show Severance was recently reported to have helped add 2 million Apple TV+ subscribers in February, it looks like the streamer is still, unfortunately, a long way from profitability on its own. Does this mean we’ll see ads on Apple TV+ in the near future? It seems likely. But with Apple also raking in record profits across its other divisions, the company can afford to bide its time a little bit. But how many billions will it burn before something changes? We’ll have to see.

Netflix really wants you to care about gaming

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try, try….

Pocket-lint / Netflix

Netflix has been trying to get into the world of gaming for several years now, and results have proven time and again that this isn’t a practical revenue source for the streaming giant. However, the company simply refuses to give up on this initiative. Speaking at a side event at the Game Developers Conference, Alain Tascan, president of games at Netflix, re-committed to making Netflix gaming happen, saying “We are not yet the Netflix of games, but that is where we are headed,” adding that the streamer is specifically looking to target young people with this initiative.

In order to help with this effort, the streamer announced new game, Spirit Crossing which is described as a “cozy” title that will serve the service’s first MMO offering. It was developed by Spry Fox, one of Netflix’s in-house game studios, and will launch sometime later this year. You can check out the trailer below:

The Streaming Scene: Disney+ enters its cancel era, plus Netflix spends $18 billion

Disney+ cancels an entire genre of projects, Netflix lays out its content spending strategy, plus Traitors comes to a thrilling end.

Early numbers from Disney+ show a decent start for Daredevil: Born Again

The show has already been renewed for a second season, which is now in production

Disney+

Daredevil: Born Again

Release Date: March 4, 2025
Showrunner: Chris Ord

Charlie Cox

Matt Murdock / Daredevil
Vincent D’Onofrio

Wilson Fisk / Kingpin
Deborah Ann Woll

Karen Page
Elden Henson

Foggy Nelson

All eyes have been on Daredevil: Born Again, as the project has been something of a risky endeavor for Disney+. Not only is the show so expensive it reportedly led to a pause in production for other Marvel shows, but it is also a continuation/reboot of a former Netflix series, which premiered its final season seven years ago, which might as well be an eternity in Marvel terms (for context, this was the same year the first Black Panther film as well as Avengers: Infinity War premiered). Daredevil: Born Again is also the very first Disney-produced Marvel TV series with a TV-MA rating, making it an even more high-risk project for the streamer, which has largely been content to offer mostly family-friendly fare in its Marvel TV vertical thus far.

Given all this, it’s easy to see how the pressure is on this series to perform well, especially since season 2 has already been greenlit and is currently in production. And while the series didn’t debut to record-breaking numbers, Variety recently released data from Luminate that shows the series is off to at least an OK start, with the two-episode premiere drawing 7.5 million views within its first five days of release. While this isn’t as much as Agatha All Along’s 9.3 million views during the same time period, given the length between seasons, and the mature rating, that number seems decent, and will likely keep Disney happy for the short term, provided the series can keep up this momentum.

It will definitely be interesting to see how the series continues to fare on Disney+ over the course of its initial two seasons…

Interestingly, the data also shows that viewership of the three seasons of the original Netflix Daredevil show have increased 153% in hours watched between the week before and the week of the Born Again premiere. Clearly, folks who perhaps missed the series when it first debuted a decade ago (or wanted to revisit it) are interested enough in the new show to watch the old one (which moved to Disney+ in 2022), which may be an additional good sign for the series moving forward as interest is high enough for Marvel fans to do three seasons of “homework” before watching the premiere of the new, revamped series.

It will definitely be interesting to see how the series continues to fare on Disney+ over the course of its initial two seasons, especially as rumors continue to swirl about a possible big-screen reappearance for Matt Murdock in the future as well (his first and only film appearance was in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home). I’ll be keeping an eye on this one (as well as future Marvel projects on Disney+), so stay tuned!

How to get Disney+ and Hulu for just $3 a month

With Daredevil: Born Again currently streaming and Andor coming soon, this is the ideal time to take advantage of this Disney+ and Hulu bundle deal.

Adolescence shows us Netflix can produce great content when they want to

This week’s Pocket Pick features a welcome return to form for the streamer

Netflix

In the flurry of bad reviews of poorly made Netflix movies like The Electric State and Kinda Pregnant, it can be hard to remember a time when Netflix was actually known for specifically being in the prestige TV business. Shows like Orange is the New Black, Mindhunter, and yes, even Stranger Things gave Netflix a reputation for a level of quality and risk-taking that set it apart in the early days of streaming. And while those days might largely be behind us, the new limited series Adolescence gives me hope that someone at Netflix still cares about putting out important, groundbreaking shows.

The series, described as a crime drama, follows 13-year-old schoolboy Jamie Miller, who is arrested for the murder of a classmate. The series is notable not only for its powerhouse performances, timely themes and sharply-written dialogue, but also because each episode was shot in one continuous take, helping to immerse viewers in this gripping story.

The series isn’t an easy watch by any stretch of the imagination, but it shows that Netflix is still capable of producing impactful series with clear artistic vision. It’s a welcome return to form for the streamer, and hopefully, we will get more risk-taking projects from Netflix in the future that actually make the streamer still worth subscribing to.