u/Saar13

From Vulture Buffering Newsletter:

When it jumped into the streaming wars in 2019, Apple got so much flack from industry critics who said it was making a big mistake not investing in a deep library of older TV shows and movies like nearly every other major streamer. Not having that kind of programming means Apple snags a much smaller share of overall TV watching than its rivals. But it also has meant that instead of spending hundreds of millions for reruns of Friendsor The Office, Apple has instead been able to spend that money on taking more creative swings on scripted comedies and dramas. Plus, because Apple’s platform isn’t crowded with shows most people will never watch, its original titles actually stand out more than they might on a Peacock or Netflix. I’m not saying the other streamers are wrong to pursue their strategy; people love catalog content.

Apple chose a very different lane from day one, and that approach has greatly helped turn it into the Emmy powerhouse it has become. Having so many nominations, and so many shows nominated — more in the outstanding comedy and drama categories than any other streamer — cements Apple TV’s brand as a premium offering.

The macro-question with Apple TV has always been what its measures of success are, and whether it’s playing the same game as everyone else. Every other streamer faces the pressure of subscription conversions, churn prevention, time spent on platform, and so on. Apple TV never really feels like it’s pressured to meet those same benchmarks, and so if the focus is instead on building a premium brand — whatever way that fits into the tech giant’s broader priorities — then yes, mission accomplished.

Their portfolio of Emmy nominations this year is nothing short of stellar. Widow’s Bay was an honest-to-god word-of-mouth phenomenon that also happens to be a fantastic, thoroughly original work; Pluribus is one of the most audacious takes on the dystopian genre from one of the greatest TV creators of our time, Vince Gilligan; Slow Horses is an ever-reliable work horse (har har); and though I’m not particularly a fan of Shrinking or Margot’s Got Money Troubles, I get why they’re beloved. Apple TV’s 87 noms is lower than HBO Max’s 122 and Netflix’s 111, but they come from a smaller slate in general, so let’s call that a great hit ratio.

What I’ve always found interesting, and a little funky, about Apple TV is that the brand isn’t necessarily “premium.” Its portfolio tends to cluster around specific lanes — hard sci-fi (For All Mankind, Foundation, Silo, the upcoming Neuromancer), well-executed pure genre (Slow Horses, Hijack), prestigey dramas that are actually a little soapy (The Morning Show, Presumed Innocent), cozy comedies (Ted Lasso, Shrinking, Margo) — each maintaining a baseline of polish that passes for quality until something truly special comes along, like Severance, or in the case of this Emmy’s cycle a Pluribus or a Widow’s Bay. In the latter cases, they’re still able to get that Whoa, this is the real good stuff pop.

Nevertheless, two things can be true at once. Apple TV has the luxury of being able to focus on building a brand that signals quality to viewers and voters, and this puts them in command of their narrative. But behind the scenes, it’s hard not to wonder whether the lack of a deep back catalogue makes core metrics like subscription retention or time spent on platform will eventually become a genuine point of worry if things start to get shaky around the rest of Apple. In that scenario, what is the value of awards? (An eternal question.) But as far as who I’d want to be right now, I’d probably want to be Apple.