Apple just recently partnered with Futuo Studios to improve the platform's podcasting.
Apple is continuing to invest in the production of its own original podcasts. It is continuing its efforts to increase the market share of its platform as a go-to platform for podcasts, and it is doing so by expanding those efforts.
A partnership agreement was reached between the technological company and the multi-award winning production company, Futuro Studios.
In accordance with the terms of the agreement, Apple will provide financial support to Futuro in order for the latter to create new podcasts.
However, Apple will keep the rights to the intellectual property necessary to adapt any of the works into video content for its streaming service Apple TV+, be it in the form of television shows or movies.
Apple Podcast
Apple has significantly increased the quantity of podcasts it produces over the past few years, and the signing of this deal represents a continuation of the company's strategy regarding podcasts to this point.
Through its Apple TV+ division, the company has made available a number of podcast series that are original productions from Apple.
Apple has also produced remakes of some of its original television and movie content, such as the For All Mankind podcast. However, the company is also looking to purchase original podcast programs that could tie into future TV+ shows.
According to MacRumors, the technology company has maintained its efforts to expand the reach of its podcasts; it had previously discussed similar contracts with other podcast production studios and had spent up to $10 million on the push to this point.
Apple has already backed a number of successful podcasts, such as the true crime series Hooked and The Line, and several of these podcasts are connected to the company's television programs in some way.
In contrast to Spotify's high-spending strategy of acquiring already popular podcasts and making them exclusive to its streaming platform, Apple's plan involves the company creating its own original podcasts.
Over the last few years, Spotify has made significant strides into the podcasting market by expanding its original podcast offerings, making major acquisitions, and securing key deals such as the rights to the popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
Apple Strategy testing programs
According to 9To5Mac, Apple is utilizing the podcast investment model as a reasonably risk-free method of evaluating the popularity of the content in order to decide whether or not it may become a video series.
Instead of spending tens of millions of dollars up front on an unproven notion for Apple TV+, the company can generate a dozen or more podcasts for the cost of producing a single episode of high-end television.
If one of these podcasts is well received by listeners, Apple can use it as a signal to feel more confident in placing an order for a television show or film adaptation of the same subject.
This strategy is significantly more cost-efficient for the company than signing a deal to acquire the adaptation rights for an established podcast from a publisher since they control the alternatives on hand from the beginning of the production process.
Apple's stand-alone original podcasts include titles such as Project Unabom, Missed Fortune, Hooked, and Run, Bambi Run, amongst others.
However, none of those shows have, as of yet, stated that they will be adapted into a television show.
