Apple TV+ could be the latest streaming service to embrace ads

Apple TV+ could be the latest streaming service to fall back on an ad-supported tier, according to a report claiming Apple has met with the UK TV ratings agency.

Over the weekend, the Telegraph reported Apple executives had held discussions with Barb, which is co-owned by British broadcasters and provides official viewing figures.

The company – which the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky and ITV have a stake in – also provides viewing figures for Apple TV+.

If Apple were to roll out ads, it would require Barb to collect some additional data, according to the report from the Telegraph. If Apple did add ads to the streaming service, it’d join Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime and US-specific services like Max.

It comes amid other reports Apple is considering reining in the spending at the original content division, amid spiralling production costs. Bloomberg said Apple had spent “$20 billion on content not a lot of people watch” and is now exerting more control over the spending of its production partners. The report, for instance, says every episode of Severance season 2 cost $20 million.

A key paragraph claimed that, amid critical acclaim, Apple TV+ shows were struggling to connect to audiences. It said Apple TV+ accounts for as tiny 0.2% of all viewing in the United States. What Apple racks up in a month in viewership, Netflix gets in a day, the report states.

Apple is also considering adding more non-original content from Hollywood studios to bolster the content line-up, after some positive results from tests earlier this year.