Apple’s streaming service, Apple TV+, continues to rack up awards and garner industry prestige. How popular the service is exactly remains unclear, although Apple shows did appear on the Nielsen charts streaming three times this year.
But exactly how much content did Apple release in total this year? By our count, Apple released 50 original TV shows and movies in 2023, overall. A solid figure, however it is actually down 10% compared to 2022. There are some reasons for the year-over-year slowdown and Apple’s overall commitment to producing original content appears strong …
The 50 total includes all new Apple originals streaming on Apple TV+ during the calendar year (and unlike other services, Apple is yet to remove any content).
Out of those 50, 38 are TV shows and 12 are movies or one-off specials, spanning adult drama, comedy, documentary, family and kids genres. Although Apple does not share official viewing figures, some of the biggest hits of the year include Hijack, Silo, and Shrinking.
Returning seasons of a TV series are not counted in the 50 figure. Also any back catalog library content (of which Apple has very sparingly licensed) are also excluded. Apple TV+’s Nielsen appearances were from new series premiere Hijack, and the returning seasons of Ted Lasso and The Morning Show.
Fifty originals is almost one per week, which seems to be Apple’s rough (albeit unofficial) benchmark for cadence. In 2022, the total was 56, reflecting the comparatively higher content output levels. If you did count TV show seasons individually, the overall trend remains the same (with totals of 84 and 72 originals in 2022 and 2023). Either way, it’s still down around 10%.
The biggest reason for the decline is the impact of the Hollywood actors and writers strikes. The unions fought with studios over streaming residuals, the use of artificial intelligence and other matters. The labor action was so protracted, that much of Hollywood was shut down for about half of this year. New contract terms were eventually agreed in September and November, and while some work has resumed, the business isn’t expected to be in full swing until the new year.
As the strikes hit in the summer, studios saw their production pipelines in jeopardy and reacted accordingly. This included extending out their release schedules, which meant that some completed titles that would have likely originally premiered in 2023 were instead pushed to next year. We saw this happen with some of Apple shows like Manhunt and Palm Royale (which now have confirmed spring 2024 releases).
In addition to spacing out the rollout of projects in the can, the actors strike also impaired the ability for studios to do marketing. Stars could not promote their work on red carpets, appear on late night talk shows, do interviews with the press, or talk about their projects on social media. This was another reason for release dates to be delayed, as studios preferred to wait until they could give upcoming titles the full backing of a wide marketing campaign, especially those featuring high profile actors.
Even before the strike though, the streaming industry was seeing a retraction. Companies were pulling back spending as the financial realities of a higher-interest rate environment set in. Investors wanted to see bottom line returns, not just subscriber numbers go up. This factor is less relevant to Apple though. Apple is still in the midst of growing its content library from scratch, and can finance production debt-free for eternity thanks to its wildly profitably hardware businesses. It also had simply invested less in streaming overall than competitors like Disney, Warner Bros and Netflix. Indeed, the trend and pace of Apple’s future releases roadmap appears relatively unchanged, at least for now.
However, we did see Apple adopt a significant strategy shift for its movies division, and that did play a role in reducing the overall number of 2023 titles on the service. This year, Apple has begun taking its big-budget original movies to cinemas first, with an exclusive theatrical run at thousands of screens worldwide. Apple sees the box office window as a way to build more awareness for its films, while recouping some of the production costs at the same time.
Killers of the Flower Moon and Napoleon are the first two examples of this strategy in action. They premiered in theaters in October and November respectively, but are still not streaming on Apple TV+. As such, they are not counted in the 50 total. These films are expected to arrive on Apple TV+ in the new year, although Apple is still yet to announce a firm date. (In 2024, Apple TV+ theatrical movies debuts will include Argylle, Wolfs, and Project Artemis.)
It’s so hard to quantify the success metrics for Apple TV+ as a service, because Apple doesn’t share numbers about viewership and subscribers, nor do we know exactly what Apple’s goals are.
Appearing on the Nielsen top ten charts three times this year was a positive sign. And from the awards perspective, Apple is set for a very strong showing at the next Oscars thanks to the critical acclaim for Killers of the Flower Moon and its star-studded leading cast.
It does seem like the overall base of Apple TV+ subscribers continues to grow, albeit slowly. If it was a standalone company, it would probably not survive. But Apple seems more than willing to persevere with the efforts, and it has the money to do so.
For posterity, here’s all fifty of the new originals Apple released this year (in date order):
To get a sense of what is coming to the service, check out our exclusive show guide to see all the Apple TV shows and movies already announced for 2024.
