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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2019-08-07, 16:00

It does seem like it would be really hard to launch a streaming service that’s nothing but new IP. Like, sure, For All Mankind might be good, See might be good, but there’s no shortage of good TV. The shows will have to be exceptional, to the point where they hook a bunch of people during their free trial period and build the sort of buzz where everyone else feels like they have to subscribe or be left out. I don’t envy their position.

Even CBS All Access had a slow start, and all of its first series — The Good Fight, Big Brother, Star Trek — were based on familiar IP. There’s a lot of resistance to a new streaming service, and it’s hard to break past that and make the service feel essential, because people are basically looking for reasons not to subscribe. To their credit, CBS was willing to throw their best stuff at All Access — they gave it Star Trek, which is a big IP, because they knew it would get people to subscribe. And it did. But it took time.

My worry with Apple TV+ is that Apple won’t give it time. CBS All Access is far more essential to CBS’s future than Apple TV+ is to Apple’s. How much money will Apple throw at Apple TV+ if it’s not an immediate success? Because I’m not expecting it to be. It’ll take time to build up a library of killer shows.

Apple’s leaning heavily on the big-name creators angle, with Steven Spielberg, Reese Witherspoon, JJ Abrams, Ron Howard, and, of course, Oprah. Apple’s pitching this as the home for all these creators’ passion projects. But big-name creators make flops all the time (especially when they’re making passion projects). I wonder if it would have been smarter to buy the rights to a bunch of shows and build an IP war chest, instead.

The beauty of Disney+ is that it isn’t just Disney+, it’s also Marvel+ and Star Wars+, because if there’s one thing Disney understands it’s the value of IP. HBO wants to built a Game of Thrones universe. Amazon is making a big bet on Lord of the Rings. WB relies heavily on DC characters for its shows. Apple doesn’t have any of that, now.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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