We are just over a week and a half into the launch of Apple TV+ and it’s safe to say the tech company’s streaming service hasn’t had the best debut. With barely any content debuting on its November 1 launch date, and mostly negative reviews for the series that did premiere, Apple TV+ has yet to excite audiences enough to become more than just a blip on streaming radar. And not even two weeks into its launch, there’s already been one casualty.
According to THR, Apple TV+ executive Kim Rozenfeld is, uh, “leaving” his position as the head of current scripted programming and documentary and unscripted content for the tech company. He is set to be replaced, at least for now, by Matt Cherniss, who currently is the man responsible for overseeing the development of scripted series for Apple TV+.
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Rozenfeld formerly worked over at Sony Pictures TV and was one of the first people hired to help develop and launch Apple’s streaming platform. But don’t cry for Rozenfeld just yet, as the executive turned this departure into a positive, as he signed a production deal with Apple. We’re sure this has nothing to do with the tepid launch and bad reviews, and instead, has to do with the executive just wanting to get into producing again. Yep. Uh-huh.
As mentioned, Apple TV+ launched on November 1 and was supposed to be a major force in the Streaming Wars. The tech giant was banking on the star power of folks like Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell, Reese Witherspoon, Jason Momoa, and Hailee Steinfeld to create the buzz to help sell subscriptions to its $4.99 per month service. However, those series, as well as “For All Mankind” met lukewarm-to-bad reviews and the discussion surrounding the platform changed from what the service has to offer to what Apple TV+ lacks — namely a decent library of titles.
Unlike its competitors, Apple doesn’t have a ton of series and movies in a library that it can share with its paying subscribers. Instead, the service is more like Amazon Prime, where the platform is flooded with options to pay/rent movies and TV series (in addition to your subscription fee) and watch stuff from other providers, such as Netflix, HBO, etc… In other words, the service looks crowded, but all your $4.99 per month covers is the less than a dozen series and programs that are currently available.
But let’s not count Apple out just yet. The tech company has more money than anyone else and can easily rebound. However, this executive shuffle is not a good look for the company.
