Apple TV is about to wrap its best year ever, and in the latest Screen International, Eddy Cue and more talk the streamer’s 2026 pipeline, ad-supported plans, film strategy, and more.
Eddy Cue and more discuss Apple TV’s current success and future ambitions
This has undoubtedly been a breakout year for Apple TV.
The streamer started strong with Severance, then kept the hits rolling throughout the year, including a theatrical win with F1. And the streamer’s latest premiere—Pluribus—has all the makings of another huge success.
On the heels of a strong 2025, executives Eddy Cue, Zack Van Amburg, and Jamie Erlicht were interviewed by Screen International about all things Apple TV.
The full interview is well worth a read. But here are some highlights.
On the Apple TV content pipeline for 2026, Van Amburg answered: “We have a new original nearly every single week [in 2026].” He name-dropped both Ted Lasso and For All Mankind, indicating they’ll each get new seasons in the year ahead.
The interviewer asked Eddy Cue if Apple has plans for an ad-supported tier. He shot down the idea.
Nothing at this time. Again, I don’t want to say no forever, but there are no plans. If we can stay aggressive with our pricing, it’s better for consumers not to get interrupted with ads.
On the common question of Apple TV’s current subscriber numbers, Cue was secretive as always.
However, he did offer some context. “I can tell you we’re growing faster, we have more viewers and they have more viewing hours in this past year than we’ve had at any time.”
There’s also a lengthy discussion on Apple’s film strategy, with F1’s box office success highlighted.
Apple wouldn’t commit to releasing more films in theaters. Instead, Van Amburg emphasized that it plans to continue evaluating each movie’s release strategy on a case by case basis.
When asked how popular films that premiered directly on Apple TV were (specifically mentioned were The Gorge, Echo Valley, Spirited), Van Amburg simply said: “Millions of people watched them.”
You can find the full interview on Screen International’s website.
Apple TV is available for $12.99 per month and features hit TV shows and movies like Ted Lasso, Severance, The Morning Show, Silo, and Shrinking.
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