Apple TV+ takes top spot for quality programming for the 4th year running
At WWDC 2025, Apple made it clear that the Apple TV+ streaming service has taken the top spot for the best quality programming for the fourth year running.
Craig Federighi at WWDC 2025 promoting the new Apple TV+ show F1
This announcement came during the opening of WWDC 2025, with CEO Tim Cook sharing a chart that shows Apple TV+ sitting pretty. It beat Hulu into the second spot, while Netflix and Disney+ round out the top three. Apple's chart is based on Ampere Analysis's "Critical Ratings."
Apple TV+ doesn't have the biggest library in the streaming world, but its streak of releasing winning shows, movies, and documentaries continues. Current hits include Slow Horses, Silo, and more while the upcoming F1 movie is expected to prove popular.
The movie stars Brad Pitt and follows a fictional Formula 1 team through a season that includes real teams and real drivers. In fact, the movie was shot during real Formula 1 race weekends to ensure authenticity.
Apple TV+ has beaten out some big names to take the top spot.
Apple's WWDC event is underway this week and is set to set the stage for the next 12 months of software releases and updates. This also comes as Apple readies itself for the launch of the iPhone 17 lineup this fall, too.
As for Apple TV+, the company still has a lot for viewers to look forward to. Stick, a new sports comedy series starring Owen Wilson, recently launched. New shows are being announced seemingly weekly, too.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
https://www.ampereanalysis.com/insight/how-apple-tv-is-building-a-brand-to-rival-hbo
Personally, I do find that Apple TV+ does tend to have a much percentage of high quality content compared to other streaming services, but I would expect that to be the case from a company that isn't simply buying up old content to pad their portfolio.
Look, it's completely fair to say that you haven't much quality content, or even that you recognize that the content is high quality but it's simply not something you're interested in. Personally, I can point out a lot or top tier content that simply isn't something I'd watch. I do wholeheartedly disagree that TV is trashy right now when I think back at what was popular each decade prior. 'd say that the quality of the content has improved greatly. So much so that even movie actors are willing to do "TV shows" these days because the stigma of "TV is where movie actors go to die is all but over." No more washed up actors showing up on an episode of Love Boat.
Apple TV+
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10986410/ (Ted Lasso - 8.8/10)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5875444/ (Slow Horses - 8.3/10)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14688458/ (Silo - 8.1/10)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11280740/ (Severance - 8.7/10)
Netflix
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27995113/ (Black Doves - 7.2/10)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13016388/ (3 Body Problem - 7.5/10)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7221388/ (Cobra Kai - 8.4/10)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13649112/ (Baby Reindeer - 7.7/10)
The other services have much more content by a factor of 20x or more but there would be much less difference limiting it to shows rated 8/10 or above:
https://www.ampereanalysis.com/products/about/analytics-svod
Apple is trying to maintain a smaller library of highly rated shows. The services are low priced enough to get more than one service. Having both Netflix or Amazon Prime and Apple TV+ covers most things.
The lack of good quality shows is an industry-wide problem and not a new one. Cable was always described as having so many channels and nothing on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAlDbP4tdqc
George Lucas commented on this too:
This affects the games industry as well as the movie industry. They start out with original ideas on a low budget but they are risky. A lot of studios passed on Star Wars:
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/12/star-wars-george-lucas-independent-film
Then some IP makes a lot of money and all they want to do is sequels/prequels/spin-offs. Sometimes sequels continue making money like the newer Star Wars movies, Top Gun and Mission Impossible but they are recycling the same concepts and it comes out less than the originals.
For decades people wanted a Back to the Future 4 and they fortunately declined to make it:
https://insidethemagic.net/2024/11/robert-zemeckis-breaks-silence-on-back-to-the-future-part-4-dr1/
It's like the old saying about customers wanting a faster horse. What people want is the originality that came from the old movies and if the world/characters are interesting enough, a sequel is justified.
Building a new, interesting IP is difficult, a lot of parts have to come together - the cast, story, cinematography. When it does all of them like Game of Thrones and the original blockbuster movies from the 80s/90s, it sets the bar for everyone else.
Foundation should have been Apple's Game of Thrones but the cast and scripting isn't quite there. Severance has received higher ratings even though it was a more risky theme.
AI tools will help out with this because they will be able to generate a photoreal animatic of every movie and TV show with the preferred cast and accurate voices and they can iterate on it in a matter of days. Then hand it to the production team to shoot.
There isn't an unlimited amount of original ideas though and this problem will get more difficult over time. This can be seen in Apple's recent movie The Fountain of Youth that is a play on the Indiana Jones theme:
https://thoughtcatalog.com/sergio-pereira/2025/06/apple-tvs-fountain-of-youth-was-a-blatant-indiana-jones-rip-off/
Most of the scenes in it felt like they were from a template. The car chase scene that follows the same structure, the choreographed hand-to-hand fight scenes with the comedic timing. Predictable and manufactured all the way through.
One thing they have a habit of doing with content today is making it feel unimportant like the cast and crew are in it for the money and it shows. The more that Apple's production studios get a feel for what works, they can direct their budget accordingly. More movies would be nice because TV shows are more forgettable/disposable.