Ad-free Apple TV+ likely to vanish as Apple hunts advertising executives

Apple recently recruited Joseph Cady who was a high profile TV ad exececutive at NBCUniversal

Alexander Lewis - Mar 14, 2024

A representational image shows Apple TV logo. — Pixabay/file

Since almost all the prominent streaming services have opted to do away with their ad-free tiers for streaming, tech giant Apple seems to be following the suite.

While driving towards the advertising appeal, Apple is eyeing the dismissal of its ad-free plan on Apple TV+ soon, Business Insider reported.

It appears that the Cupertino-based tech giant has some big advertising-related plans on the roadmap, considering its stealthy hunt for ad executives from competing streaming giants.

One such example is the recruitment of Joseph Cady, a high profile TV ad exececutive from NBCUniversal, where he was the “EVP of advanced advertising and partnerships, putting him in charge of data-driven and targeted TV advertising,” while looking after Apple's partnerships with Amazon, Google, and TikTok, among others.

Besides Cady, the publication has mentioned recruitment of five more placements for positions related to TV advertising in 2023. This serves as a crystal clear sign that the company is mulling to integrate adverts on Apple TV+, considering the expertise of big hires took place at Apple.

There won't be any sense to Apple hiring the best ad execs and then retaining the ad-supported plan on its streaming platform, as we are observing some smartphone manufacturers removing power adopters out of boxes, imitating what Apple did.

This is the most likely route followed by firms doing business in the landscape of content, and Apple TV+ subscriptions generate hefty amount for the company, whereas Apple also sells its entire user base of its hardware ecosystem.

Even a look at search on the App Store is enough to indicate that Apple grants advertising slots to the highest bidder, even if they don't have anything to do with user's search query. All of this proves that the king of Apple Park is not user experience.

Based on what rival streaming giants have been doing, the most probable approach for Apple TV+ is the offering of a new tier that costs less than any existing tier.