and Canada subscriber numbers are under a threshold of 20 million people, the report said. That statistic enables Apple to pay crews a lower rate than larger platforms like Netflix and Disney.According to an existing contract, big-budget streaming productions can pay workers at a discounted rate if their combined U.S. Apple TV+ reportedly had less than 20M subscribers in US and Canada as of JulyĪ union representing TV and movie workers says Apple pays discounted rates to production crews because it has comparatively fewer subscribers than competing streaming services.A spokesman for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees told CNBC that Apple cited Apple TV+ subscriber numbers of less than 20 million people as of July 1.