Over the past couple of years we’ve heard rumors about how Apple is cozying up to advertising agencies and hiring advertising executives. This has led many to suspect that Apple TV Plus could add an ad-supported subscription tier. Now it’s reported Apple is meeting with a U.K. ratings body to discuss advertising tracking options.
According to The Telegraph, Apple sent executives to meet with the Broadcaster’s Audience Research Board (BARB) to discuss various options for tracking ads on Apple TV Plus. While BARB already monitors ratings for the streaming service, alongside other U.K. broadcasters, this would require the organization to “deploy additional data collection techniques”.
All of the above is going to be necessary if Apple wants to start selling advertising on Apple TV Plus. And if other streaming services are anything to go by, this would likely take the form of a cheaper ad-supported subscription tier.
The question is what is this new tier going to look like? Apple TV Plus currently costs $10 a month, and if other streaming services are anything to go by, adding ads to your subscription should save you a few dollars a month.
We don’t have any more information than that right now, and likely won't until Apple officially announces this hypothetical tier. So it’s unclear how much cheaper an ad-supported Apple TV Plus might be, or how many ads viewers will have to endure in exchange for that discount. Let’s just hope that this new tier doesn’t coincide with another price hike, which would be a play straight out of Disney Plus’s playbook.
The most likely place to announce this new tier would be the Apple September Event — also known as the iPhone 16 launch event. It all depends on whether Apple will want to make a big deal out of Apple TV Plus, or if it would rather focus its attention on the next wave of iPhones and Apple Watches.
We’ll just have to wait and see how this plays out. Considering Apple has been reportedly investigating ads for a couple of years already, it may be a while before we see Apple TV Plus ads outside of live sports.
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