Apple TV+ has a huge hit on its hands with the workplace thriller Severance. Even though its second season has concluded, fans will probably flock to various Reddit channels to decode the puzzle-box-style show and discuss the fate of the Macrodata Refinement team at Lumon Industries. For Apple, the question is whether it will be able to cash in on Severance’s momentum. Unlike Netflix, which has amassed a content library of thousands of titles, Apple TV+ – with only around 270 shows – has prioritised quality over quantity. So far, however, Apple has struggled to attract and retain subscribers despite the popularity of comedy-drama Ted Lasso and critical praise for thriller Slow Horses. Now, thanks to shows like sci-fi drama Silo, comedy-drama Shrinking and Severance, there are signs that might be starting to change. Severance was the fifth-most streamed original show across all platforms during the second week of February, racking up 681 million minutes watched, according to the most recent ratings data from audience measurement company Nielsen. This performance is even more impressive considering that the four Netflix shows ahead of it, including romantic drama Sweet Magnolias and reality series Love is Blind, dropped multiple new episodes at a time, while a single new episode of Severance was released each week. Despite the buzz and a rush of new viewers for Severance, Apple is still the smallest of the major streaming platforms, and garners less than one per cent of the total streaming audience, according to Nielsen. Last October, Apple TV+ became available on Amazon’s Prime Video as an add-on service for US$9.99 a month, exposing the platform to hundreds of millions of subscribers around the world. That move “unlocked a new wave of sign-ups via Amazon Channels, now representing a meaningful portion of the service’s overall acquisition”, according to industry tracker Antenna. Apple TV+ logged almost 3 million new subscribers in January, when Severance’s season two came out, up eight per cent from December, according to Antenna. In February, Apple TV+ had 2.9 million new sign-ups. Severance follows four office workers who have agreed to undergo a procedure to surgically sever their brains so that they only remember their work lives when they are in the office – as their “innie” – and only their personal lives once they step out of the lift at Lumon – as their “outie”. It takes the idea of work-life balance to an unsettling extreme. Primarily directed by US actor Ben Stiller, Severance is one of Apple TV+’s biggest hits ever. The show, which cost US$20 million per episode to make, has captivated viewers with its retro-futuristic office sets, a bleak and snowy landscape, decades-old cars and a suspenseful narrative that toggles between dark humour, corporate satire and psychological drama. “In an era where you have 500-plus original, scripted, entertainment shows every year, Severance really stands out,” says media consultant Brad Adgate. Severance could be a pivotal moment for Apple, Adgate adds. Even with its deep pockets, broad success with Ted Lasso, the soccer-themed dramedy that first put the streaming service on the map, and a best-picture Oscar for its film CODA, the company still has the reputation of being “like [US cable network] HBO, but not as good”, he says. “Apple is not really in the conversation as much as other streaming providers,” Adgate says. “This kind of gives them a shot in the arm in terms of being competitive.” The effort has not come cheap. Apple has long had the reputation of being one of the biggest spenders in Hollywood and has shown a willingness to splurge on individual titles. But it, too, has become more cost-conscious in recent months. Apple services boss Eddy Cue has reportedly implored studio chiefs Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht to exert more control over spending on projects. Apple bought the rights to Severance in 2019, the same year its streaming service debuted. But production dragged on far longer than expected because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and by the time the first season arrived in 2022, it was US$40 million over budget. During the three-year wait for the second season, which was hampered by the writers’ and actors’ strikes and other production delays, fans had time to get fired up and spread the word to friends and over social media. And Apple leaned in to help build excitement. In January, huge crowds gathered around a glass cube in the middle of New York’s bustling Grand Central Terminal. The large enclosure, complete with bulky desktop computers, green carpeting and uncomfortable-looking chairs, re-created one of the show’s most recognisable sets just three days before the second-season premiere. Severance cast members, including actors Adam Scott and Patricia Arquette, dressed in their conservative corporate apparel, acted out bits of their mysterious office life that have helped endear the show to fans, including fiddling with a computer on the blink. “You could sense their enjoyment and that everyone watching was enthralled,” says Dorit Phinizy, director of events and sponsorship sales for Grand Central Retail. View this post on Instagram A post shared by BrooklynVegan (@brooklynvegan) The first season attracted a following and some buzz – including 14 Emmy nominations – but “you didn’t have everybody going, ‘Have you seen Severance?’” says Allen Stare, who hosts the Severed: The Ultimate Severance Podcast. “Nobody had Apple TV+. Nobody had seen the show. How can you get people excited about this show if they can’t even stream it?” Apple set about to try to change that. The company announced the season two premiere six months early. It even put its chief executive Tim Cook in a blue crew neck jumper with matching blue lanyard and badge in a trailer for the show. By the time the second season dropped on January 17, fans were in a frenzy. Apple has also been encouraging fan engagement by bringing favourite elements of the show into real life. Apple Books published an e-book and audiobook version of The You You Are, a self-help tome written by a character in the show. There are two official music playlists on YouTube. There is also a LinkedIn page for Lumon Industries, with more than 80,000 followers. But it remains to be seen how many of Apple TV+’s new subscribers will stick around. According to Jennifer Kent, vice-president of research at market intelligence firm Parks Associates, Apple TV+ has historically been more dependent on creating stand-out content than its competitors. When it comes to reasons for cancelling a streaming subscription, “Apple TV+ users are more likely to say that it’s because they finished a show they were watching or they couldn’t find good programmes to watch”, Kent says. Apple has confirmed that there will be a season three, although it did not say when. In the meantime, Apple’s post-Severance line-up includes a mix of new shows it is banking on to fill the void, including Dope Thief, a crime thriller; and The Studio, a comedy from Seth Rogen that has got early praise. Murderbot, starring Alexander Skarsgard, will tap into the sci-fi, thriller-comedy void. At the South by Southwest media festival in March, there seemed to be a lot of optimism around Severance’s success as fans poured in to watch a panel with Stiller, who is also an executive producer, and Cue. Stiller teased Cue about Apple and Lumon’s similarities as massive corporations with a distinct aesthetic and alluded to the company’s financials. “Sometimes when we go over budget a little, they’ll say to me, like, ‘Come on, guys’, and then I start to worry,” Stiller said. “I appreciate that,” Cue said. “You guys are in the black?” Stiller pressed. Cue responded, “If you keep doing this as well as you’re doing, I think we’re gonna be OK.”