There is no doubt that The Break Up is the show of the winter. Three years after the first season received rave reviews and had viewers theorizing on the internet, Season 2 "The Farewell." began with great fanfare, punctuated by high-profile publicity stunts such as the cast appearing in a Grand Central Station pop-up. That's all well and good, and the show is firmly entrenched in the hot moment, but has all the attention translated into actual financial success for Apple TV+?

Apple's streaming platform has never been at the top of the heapalthough it has had one of the strongest records when it comes to investing in quality content. It's also one of the few companies involved in the streaming wars whose business isn't caught up in digital content. Extended Apple TV+ trials are being bundled into new iPhone and iPad purchases, giving the platform value to Apple beyond its paying subscribers. In other words, the question of the "value" of a streamer's show is not entirely straightforward.

In a recent research report conducted by Parrot Analytics, Deadline shared that Season 1 of "The Breakup" made over $200 million in revenue according to the agency's content valuation methodology — "a formula for correlating audience demand with subscribers, and therefore revenue." That number may seem substantial, but it's also about the same as the reported production budget for Season 2. What's particularly interesting is that, according to Parrot research, nearly half of Season 1's total revenue came in the year after the finale , which speaks to the show's powerful word-of-mouth marketing.

A report from Deadline shared some Parrot estimates for other popular Apple TV+ originals, revealing that Severance has already landed among the upper echelon of shows on the platform. Apple's flagship original "The Morning Show" earned $299.4 million, but over a much longer time frame, while hit spy series "Slow Horses" earned $184.8 million during a "similar time frame" to Season 1's "Severance" ". All of those pale in comparison to the numbers brought in by Ted Lasso, however, which Perot says brought in $609.4 million between 2020 and 2024.

There's no doubt that Ted Lasso has been the most embraced Apple TV+ original to date, which may be largely due to the fact that it has maintained a regular release schedule in an era when many other streaming series have not. "The Divorce" took almost three years between seasons, but that might actually be good for the show to continue to grow in popularity. Season 1 was a bit of a surprise, even with the notable marketing push it received — an original sci-fi thriller featuring high-profile comedians both in front of and behind the camera. After season 1 ended, the show only increased its profile on the internet, and perhaps many jumping in for the first time with the start of Season 2 of The Breakup..

While Severance Season 3 has yet to be officially ordered by Apple, members of the production team, including director Ben Stiller, have confirmed that work is already underway and seem confident in Apple's commitment to the series. The company kicked off 2025 with a free Apple TV+ weekend for everyone, which could be seen as a general New Year's promotion. However, given the proximity of Severance's Season 2 premiere, non-subscribers who had heard great things about the series online were probably largely to be brought in.

Like other "mystery box" shows before it like "Lost" and "Manifesto," "Breakup" became something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The nature of his writing, which begs fans to theorize and fixate on every little clue, naturally attracts viewers. We all love to see what everyone is talking about, especially while the real answers have yet to be revealed.

It remains to be seen if Severance can maintain the same level of interest once it starts cashing in on some of its long-standing secrets. Answers can often be the death of shows built on a mystery, but Severance certainly has a strong foundation going into Season 2, and it's already doing well for Apple.