One thing that I have not seen mentioned much, if at all, is the fact that for the content Apple produces, the catalogue is the same worldwide. The Morning Show can be seen in most places without needing a VPN to pretend to be in the USA. This is important to the international market. My anecdotal evidence is that a lot of viewers have Netflix in Europe, but that the catalogue differs in each region. Meanwhile, Disney+ is launching in some English-speaking markets only.

The other clever thing Apple did was to put only four (now five) episodes of the flagship show online. In fact, you can’t see the entire first season without paying for at least two months. Even then, since two seasons were planned, you won’t see the end, only what one assumes will be a season finale cliffhanger. Another is that one-year free subscription comes with many devices they sell. (Subsidised by the “Apple tax” to people who are willing to pay $1,000 plus for a phone).

While the app integrated into MacOS Catalina is still buggy and feature-poor, they’ve done a good job of generating interest. Time will tell what content they will offer, and that is likely to be the determining factor in their ultimate success or failure.