Apple TV+ ranks low in streaming industry surveys despite market boom
The majority of streaming service customers subscribe to Netflix but only 14% can say the same for Apple TV+, according to a new J.D. Power survey.
About 81% of respondents to the survey said they subscribe to Netflix, the number one streaming service by far. Amazon Prime Video ranked second with 65%, while Hulu came in third with 56%, according to the survey seen by Variety.
Disney+ and HBO Max rounded out the rest of the top five streaming services with 47% and 22%, respectively. Even NBC streamer Peacock came in higher than Apple, with 18% of those surveyed saying they subscribe to the service.
Streaming has surged against the backdrop of the global coronavirus pandemic. The J.D. Power survey also indicates that 49% of respondents subscribe to four or more streaming services, up from three at the start of the health crisis.
Spending on streaming platforms is also up 24% in December 2020, with consumers shelling out an average of $47 a month. That's up from an average of $38 a month in April 2020.
The overall ranking of streaming services in the J.D. Power survey lines up with other recent research, including a report from JustWatch.
Calculating "measured interest" in the streaming services, JustWatch reports that Netflix came in first, followed by Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, and Apple TV+, in that order.
However, JustWatch's report doesn't line up in percentages. According to the "measured interest" metric, Netflix came in with 31%. Apple TV+, at the low end of the spectrum, had 3% of the measured interest.
Although surveys and data like these can paint a broad picture of the streaming industry, differences in calculations and methodology can make it hard to pinpoint what's actually going on.
Earlier on Friday, a MoffetNathan survey indicated that 62% of Apple TV+ subscribers were on a free trial and that less than a third would renew their service.
About 81% of respondents to the survey said they subscribe to Netflix, the number one streaming service by far. Amazon Prime Video ranked second with 65%, while Hulu came in third with 56%, according to the survey seen by Variety.
Disney+ and HBO Max rounded out the rest of the top five streaming services with 47% and 22%, respectively. Even NBC streamer Peacock came in higher than Apple, with 18% of those surveyed saying they subscribe to the service.
Streaming has surged against the backdrop of the global coronavirus pandemic. The J.D. Power survey also indicates that 49% of respondents subscribe to four or more streaming services, up from three at the start of the health crisis.
Spending on streaming platforms is also up 24% in December 2020, with consumers shelling out an average of $47 a month. That's up from an average of $38 a month in April 2020.
The overall ranking of streaming services in the J.D. Power survey lines up with other recent research, including a report from JustWatch.
Calculating "measured interest" in the streaming services, JustWatch reports that Netflix came in first, followed by Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, and Apple TV+, in that order.
However, JustWatch's report doesn't line up in percentages. According to the "measured interest" metric, Netflix came in with 31%. Apple TV+, at the low end of the spectrum, had 3% of the measured interest.
Although surveys and data like these can paint a broad picture of the streaming industry, differences in calculations and methodology can make it hard to pinpoint what's actually going on.
Earlier on Friday, a MoffetNathan survey indicated that 62% of Apple TV+ subscribers were on a free trial and that less than a third would renew their service.
Comments
I find I watch Netflix the most, followed by HBO, ATV+, Hulu, Prime, then Disney. I will be dropping Peacock when the year is up. I keep Disney for the kids, and hope for new shows that are a bit more riveting than we have seen so far.
I think the foundation series has to work. It is does it will draw lots of people, well people with iPhones and so on.
The idea here should be to push the Apple TV as well. I think it would work if smaller.
Not trying to be snarky, just helpful; I could recommend many, many more.
https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/01/28/apple-reportedly-held-preliminary-acquisition-talks-with-mgm
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2020-12-21/james-bond-studio-mgm-is-exploring-a-sale
"Anchorage CEO Kevin Ulrich, as chairman of MGM’s board, had wanted a price of at least $7.5 billion, according to industry insiders. The studio’s market value is about $5.5 billion including debt, said one person familiar with the company’s finances who was not authorized to comment."
If every group in Apple has to be independently profitable and Apple has 20 million subscribers on a $5/month service ($100m/month and most are likely not paying just now), spending $7.5b is 6 years of Apple TV+ revenue. MGM owns a lot of content (4,000 movies and a bunch of TV shows) but they wouldn't all be exclusive to Apple TV+ and might not get them 6 years of subscriber mileage:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer_films
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_MGM_Television_programs
The Bond movies would be worthwhile if they were included but that kind of money could fund 150 exclusive $50m movies like Greyhound. They'd get more mileage out of exclusives like that but the downside is they will likely only be able to get around 20 per year (and harder to acquire once the pandemic is clear) so content would be sparse for a long time.
They seem to choose the less interesting options with their content purchases, all the services are buying content from production companies. Apple ordered a series starring Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman):
https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2020/05/apple-orders-hedy-lamarr-starring-and-executive-produced-by-gal-gadot/
but Netflix ordered a spy thriller like Mission Impossible:
https://deadline.com/2021/01/netflix-gal-gadot-heart-of-stone-skydance-auction-spy-thriller-tom-harper-directing-1234674347/
Whoever is in charge of Apple's purchasing seems to be going for the less interesting of the available options, possibly due to price.
Having a back catalog of shows would help with subscribers, people still go back to those regularly (The Office, Friends, Seinfeld, Grey's Anatomy):
https://bgr.com/2020/05/25/most-watched-tv-shows-during-coronavirus-pandemic-for-every-state/
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/ozark-the-office-lead-nielsens-2020-streaming-rankings
They might see it as redundant doing that when so many people subscribe Netflix with the same shows. That's why I think a tie-in with iTunes content would be worth doing if they can, all that non-exclusive content is on iTunes but can't be watched as part of the subscription. If you can buy 6 episodes for $12.99, surely they can find a way to charge for episodes as part of a subscription. Even if it was more expensive, having the option would be nice and if they charge the ownership amount, watching the show so many times would add it permanently to the user's library. Allowing people to watch anything from iTunes would let them see what people want to watch and can focus the budget on it.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/the-office-season-1/id102772946
The most watched original series listed above were Ozark, Lucifer, The Crown, Tiger King, The Mandalorian. Crime, supenatural and hospital dramas are usually popular like Grey's Anatomy, ER, Dexter, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Twilight, Jessica Jones. These type of shows allow for a wide range of storylines and characters to avoid a series getting boring. There are a lot of old movies that could be turned into TV series.
Apple's movie content stands way above their TV content in quality. If they can get movies like Greyhound and The Banker every month, Apple TV+ would be worth it for that. For their TV content, it needs something more compelling than people putting it on because they got a free subscription. Maybe a TV series with Samuel L Jackson, Tom Hanks or Morgan Freeman or well known talented actors that are not landing good roles:
https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/02/25-a-list-hollywood-actors-who-fell-the-f-off/
Netflix: Has been around for years, is cross platform and on cable boxes and tvs.
Amazon Video: bundled in with Prime
Hulu: has been around a long time and has distribution deals.
Peacock: huge catalog and bundled in with cable
Disney+: huge catalog and available on cable
Apple: has a long way to go. The distribution channel is smaller and the content is minimal compared to others. The Apple TV is more expensive that other devices and tied mostly to Apple devices.