• Former exec Simon Gallagher doesn't expect Apple to have any problems.
• Apple's unique ability to promote content could be key.
• Apple TV+ goes live November 1st.
Former Netflix and Hulu executive Simon Gallagher has had his say on Apple's chances of making Apple TV+ , its new streaming service, into a winner. Despite new streaming services launching all the time, Apple TV+ has plenty going for it. And Gallagher is backing Apple.
In an interview with CNBC's Squawk Alley , Gallagher pointed to a number of factors when he suggested that Apple TV+ will win out where others have failed. One of those factors is the fact that it only takes one or two hits for a streaming service to prevail.
You've seen with Showtime and HBO, it's only taken a couple of shows each season to encourage people to maintain their ... subscription, and I think Apple will absolutely be able to do that with the current lineup they have in place.
Whether Apple has the next Game of Thrones on its hands remains to be seen, but with shows like See and For All Mankind, there's no doubting its intent to compete with the biggest names in the industry. It's chosen the right shows, too, with Gallagher of the belief that Apple has been right on the money with its selections. Nothing happens by accident.
I think they are being very deliberate in the initial selections and the genres they have gone after. They have popular genres with absolute marquee, best-of-breed talent.
And you'd expect Gallagher to know that of which he speaks, too. He was Hulu's director of strategy and business development. And then he was the director of content acquisition at Netflix. Content is what he does, and if he thinks Apple has it right, it probably has it right.
Apple has a secret weapon that not all media companies can compete with, too. Its retail footprint and huge number of installed devices gives it an advantage, and Gallagher expects the company to make full use of it with Apple TV+.
The foot traffic that they get through the stores, if you think about your ability to promote a new film or TV show through that type of venue, that I think is pretty impressive.
Gallagher might well have a point there. We'll know for sure when Apple TV+ gets off the ground on November 1st across more than 100 countries.
