According to people familiar with the matter, Apple intends to remain focused on original shows, but plans to round out its offering with his additional content to help attract new customers, since its initial approach has apparently not resulted in the numbers it had originally hoped for. By February this year, some 10 million people had signed up to TV+, but only about half that figure actively used the service, Bloomberg says.

Meanwhile, Disney+ signed up 10 million users within a day of its US launch and now boasts more than 50 million subscribers, while Netflix added nearly 16 million new customers in the first four months of 2020 alone. Both platforms have touted back catalogs of shows people know and love, such as Friends and The Simpsons — by taking a similar approach Apple TV+ no doubt hopes to become a more serious streaming contender.