Apple TV+ is now simply Apple TV.
The streaming service quietly acknowledged the subtle branding change on Monday in the ninth paragraph of a news release announcing a Dec. 12 streaming date for the Brad Pitt summer blockbuster “F1: The Movie.”
“Apple TV+ is now simply Apple TV, with a vibrant new identity,” it said without further elaboration. Apple’s website, though, was still referring to the streaming service as Apple TV+ on Monday afternoon.
With the change, Apple TV will no longer be part of the lengthy roll call of streaming services that use the plus sign, including AMC+, Discovery+, Disney+, ESPN+ and Paramount+. (For a few weeks in 2022, there was also CNN+.) Apple still has Apple Fitness+ Apple News+ and iCloud+.
For many streaming services, the naming convention of adding a “plus” signaled an expanded and exclusive list of offerings beyond the standard service. But that was never the case for Apple TV.
Apple TV Plus — its full name at birth — began streaming on Nov. 1, 2019, putting the tech company in direct competition with Netflix, Amazon and HBO. It received a lot of attention for “The Morning Show,” a star-studded news drama, but it carried seven other new series as well.
In addition to “The Morning Show,” Apple TV+ scored a major success with the 2021 film “CODA,” the first movie from a streaming service to win the Oscar for best picture. The heartwarming fish-out-of-water soccer comedy “Ted Lasso,” starring Jason Sudeikis, will return for a fourth season, Apple TV announced in March.
There is potential for confusion with the rebranding, because Apple also offers a set-top box and a content-aggregation app with the name Apple TV. The company did not respond to a request for comment on Monday afternoon.
When a rival streaming service, HBO Max, changed its name to Max two years ago, there was widespread confusion within the entertainment industry and among consumers.
In May, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that the streaming service would be renamed again, restoring the app’s old name. It’s once again HBO Max.
Adeel Hassan, a New York-based reporter for The Times, covers breaking news and other topics.
The post Apple TV Subtracts the + in a Quiet Rebrand appeared first on New York Times.
