Apple's 'slow roll' Apple TV+ ad push was smart given the lack of content

For all Mankind on Apple TV+ (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

Apple TV+ went live on Friday, November 1.
New ad data suggests that Apple didn't go crazy.
That was probably wise given the lack of content on day one.

Apple TV+ went live on Friday, November 1 but according to new ad data the company hasn't spent huge sums of money advertising it. At least, not compared to iPhone.

Data collated by iSpot.TV (via The New York Times) shows that Apple spent $14.9 million on TV ads for Apple TV+ during September. It increased to $19.9 million in October, but both numbers pale compared to the sums spent advertising iPhone. Apple spent $28.6 million and $38.6 million in September and October, respectively.

Frost & Sulluvan analyst Dan Rayburn says that Apple's "slow roll" approach to advertising makes sense. Likely because it knows that it can't compete with the likes of Netflix in terms of sheer volume of content. The real money will probably spent when more shows are available.

"Consumers are just drowning in content right now, and all of these services are competing for our time," he said. "But they're all approaching the market differently. This isn't some race for Apple. It's a slow roll."

Apple TV+ is now available in more than 100 countries and costs $4.99 per month for the whole family. But if you buy an iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod touch, or Apple TV you can get a free year of access. Anyone who is a student and subscribed to Apple Music will also receive Apple TV+ free of charge.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.