Apple TV+ has the highest-rated content of all streaming platforms

Posted:
in General Discussion
An analysis of top streaming platforms and IMDb ratings reveals that Apple TV+ has the highest-rated content.

Apple had the highest overall IMDb content ratings among the top streaming platforms
Apple had the highest overall IMDb content ratings among the top streaming platforms


The analysis, conducted by financial planning company Self, shows that Apple TV+ had the highest IMDb scores for its titles, averaging 7.24. However, since Apple's service only offered 70 titles during the study, it falls behind in other categories based on per-dollar ratings or quantity.

The study "analyzed tens of thousands of TV shows, movies, and documentaries" from streaming services and their audience IMDb ratings to compile ratings. In addition to Apple TV+, the survey included Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu.

It noted that Apple TV+ "put most of its effort into dramas," with 47 of its 70 titles falling into that category. Apple's average drama rating suffers, though, at a 3.9 IMDb average. That average is last among the platforms, translating to a "Poor" rating.

Despite having the highest overall average, Apple didn't lead in average ratings for any particular genre. Its highest-rated category was Mystery. Apple's average rating in that category was 6.76, described as "Good."

When looking at 4K content only, Apple TV+ had the third-highest average audience ratings. Its 7.13 score for 4K programming followed Hulu (7.59) and Amazon Prime Video (7.29).

Tom Hanks in Greyhound, one of the original films on Apple TV+
Tom Hanks in Greyhound, one of the original films on Apple TV+


Apple TV+ also came in third in Family content with a 6.94 rating. HBO Max (6.99) led the way, followed closely by Hulu (6.97).

The survey's ratings apply to content available on March 23, 2021. It doesn't account for content that appeared or changed platforms after that date. The poll ignored content that requires an additional purchase.

Launching in November 2019, Apple TV+ came to life later than many of its competitors. Instead of licensing existing content, Apple focuses on creating original films and series. Popular shows and movies include comedy "Ted Lasso," the behind-the-scenes drama "The Morning Show," the Tom Hanks period drama "Greyhound," southern drama "Palmer," the Tom Holland vehicle "Cherry," and Billie Eilish documentary "The World's a Little Blurry."

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    But, but, but Apple TV+ doesn’t have 25,000 1950s SciFi schlock movies like Amazon Prime does. It doesn’t have a back catalog of thousands of crappy B movies like Netflix. And it certainly does not have Nicolas Cage’s complete filmography of all the Oscar worthy dung he has starred in. But, but, but...Apple TV+ is a failure at 4.99/mo.
    Beats
  • Reply 2 of 19
    Not that surprising. People like free shit. 
  • Reply 3 of 19
    lkrupp said:
    But, but, but Apple TV+ doesn’t have 25,000 1950s SciFi schlock movies like Amazon Prime does. It doesn’t have a back catalog of thousands of crappy B movies like Netflix. And it certainly does not have Nicolas Cage’s complete filmography of all the Oscar worthy dung he has starred in. But, but, but...Apple TV+ is a failure at 4.99/mo.
    Looks like you posted before reading the actual article.  AI's misleading headline is not really indicative of the actual content of the article.  

    The article implies that Apple has the least amount of success in the area where they focus the most amount of attention:
    It noted that Apple TV+ "put most of its effort into dramas," with 47 of its 70 titles falling into that category. Apple's average drama rating suffers, though, at a 3.9 IMDb average. That average is last among the platforms, translating to a "Poor" rating.

    An easy take from the article is Apple's reported push for quality programming seems to a decent strategy... overall, hence the better average IMDb rating for it's titles.  They also need to be more considerate of their drama selection since it seems the ROI in ratings doesn't seem to be paying good dividends.

    AI included a link to the source article from Self.  It's an interesting read.  Excerpted from the source:

    Key findings from IMDb genre analysis:

    • Netflix has the best game-show content out of all streaming services (6.75 IMDb rating)
    • HBO Max has the best documentaries, and has almost 300 of them (299)
    • Hulu has the highest-rated comedies (137) but Netflix (1,785), and HBO Max (1,252) have far more to choose from
    • Disney+ has the highest-rated sci-fi content, while Hulu takes the top spot for animations
    • HBO Max has half the number of horror content (171) compared to Netflix (359) but is on average better quality (6.21 v 5.19)
    • Apple TV+ has put most of its effort into dramas (47) but only averages 3.9 IMDb score per show.
    • HBO Max has the best sports content averaging 6.8 for each piece of content (Hulu has a high score but only 2 pieces of sports content)
    Full IMDb category ratings per streaming service.  Highest rated service in bold.
    GenresNetflixPrime VideoDisney+HuluHBO MaxApple TV+
    Action6.393.356.246.906.966.38*
    Adventure6.095.685.847.106.614.79*
    Animation5.636.525.887.417.015.96
    Biography6.704.646.827.057.435.69*
    Comedy6.134.955.956.856.595.40
    Crime6.375.836.226.706.761.67*
    Documentary6.811.906.226.987.295.51
    Drama6.375.415.856.966.923.92
    Family5.903.935.966.92*6.735.17
    Fantasy5.554.535.786.36*6.192.73*
    Film-Noir7.07*7.40*N/A0.00*7.74*N/A
    Game-Show6.754.37*4.93*5.10*5.44*N/A
    History5.635.817.297.50*7.592.55*
    Horror5.193.765.855.50*6.214.11*
    Music5.954.534.476.51*6.443.98*
    Musical4.244.576.548.20*6.342.44*
    Mystery5.795.336.446.15*7.206.76*
    News6.011.10*4.00*7.80*7.22*1.68*
    Reality-TV6.023.134.657.03*6.525.09*
    Romance6.315.026.267.15*5.044.25*
    Sci-Fi4.634.106.486.63*6.282.94*
    Short4.642.094.996.65*6.931.16*
    Sport6.334.193.157.31*6.843.37*
    Talk-Show5.042.732.90*7.05*4.32*2.48*
    Thriller4.684.887.13*5.37*5.70N/A
    War7.265.32*8.80*7.33*7.383.38*
    Western5.864.206.30*6.80*7.09N/A

    Apologies to all for length.
    muthuk_vanalingamctt_zhSpronicchemengin1lkrupp
  • Reply 4 of 19
    AppleishAppleish Posts: 688member
    Not surprising. Apple TV+ has a high concentration of really good programming. The only other service that comes close is Disney+.
    edited April 2021 Beatswatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 19
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    Can the “nothing to watch on Apple TV+” meme die now? Thanks.

    Apple put over half of its production into dramas which had a bad rating. Their overall rating would have been much higher if they spread their productions evenly. Maybe this is a signal to Apple.
  • Reply 6 of 19
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    Not that surprising. People like free shit. 

    It’s not free. 
    Rayz2016
  • Reply 7 of 19
    Appleish said:
    Not surprising. Apple TV+ has a high concentration of really good programming. The only other service that comes close is Disney+.
    I like a lot of ATV+ programming too, but the article claims the exact opposite of what you're asserting.  The article claims the vast majority of Apple's programming has a poor average rating (47 out of 65 in the drama category).  According to the article's source, it's not true of Disney either.  Graph of the complete analysis is above.  You can see the relative strengths and weaknesses in each service's programming.

    In the end it's al relative.  I like highly rated stuff.  I also like stuff that get's critically obliterated.  Each service has offerings at both ends of the spectrum.
    muthuk_vanalingamctt_zh
  • Reply 7 of 19
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,275member
    This is pretty much exactly where Apple wanted to be, as I read it.

    Only morons and analysts think Apple is trying to “compete” or “win” against Disney, Amazon, et al.

    It’s like saying PBS is trying to “compete” or “win” against NBC/CBS et al.

    Apple wants to offer a quality-heavy option for the kind of people who prize quality, I.e. their customers, and it is succeeding in both its goals and on its own audience terms.

    In short, they’re doing what they wanted to do and it is finding its audience. For $5/month it’s a great value.
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 9 of 19
    AppleZuluAppleZulu Posts: 1,989member
    chasm said:
    This is pretty much exactly where Apple wanted to be, as I read it.

    Only morons and analysts think Apple is trying to “compete” or “win” against Disney, Amazon, et al.

    It’s like saying PBS is trying to “compete” or “win” against NBC/CBS et al.

    Apple wants to offer a quality-heavy option for the kind of people who prize quality, I.e. their customers, and it is succeeding in both its goals and on its own audience terms.

    In short, they’re doing what they wanted to do and it is finding its audience. For $5/month it’s a great value.
    Apple doesn’t generally pursue market share as a major goal, so this fits in with that approach. 
    watto_cobraStrangeDays
  • Reply 10 of 19
    chasm said:
    This is pretty much exactly where Apple wanted to be, as I read it.

    Only morons and analysts think Apple is trying to “compete” or “win” against Disney, Amazon, et al.

    It’s like saying PBS is trying to “compete” or “win” against NBC/CBS et al.

    Apple wants to offer a quality-heavy option for the kind of people who prize quality, I.e. their customers, and it is succeeding in both its goals and on its own audience terms.

    In short, they’re doing what they wanted to do and it is finding its audience. For $5/month it’s a great value.
    I promise I'm not picking on you.  I'm just using your quote as a jump off point.  Is everyone reading the headline and not the article?  I ask because I can almost 100% guarantee this is pretty much exactly where Apple did NOT want to be, as I read it.  The article implies Apple's efforts are by and large failing. It says the vast majority of their content rated as Poor.  

    What did you read that lead you to the conclusion you posted?  Genuinely curious.  
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 11 of 19
    jumejume Posts: 209member
    The only problem is they don't have any content :neutral: 
    Spronicwatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 19
    iadlibiadlib Posts: 95member
    Duh. That’s the plan. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 19
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    lkrupp said:
    But, but, but Apple TV+ doesn’t have 25,000 1950s SciFi schlock movies like Amazon Prime does. It doesn’t have a back catalog of thousands of crappy B movies like Netflix. And it certainly does not have Nicolas Cage’s complete filmography of all the Oscar worthy dung he has starred in. But, but, but...Apple TV+ is a failure at 4.99/mo.
    These sarcastic spluttering first posts you do aren't nearly as funny as you think they are.  And certainly not on the repetition cycle you have them on.  Get a new joke.
    Spronicchemengin1
  • Reply 14 of 19
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member


    The analysis, conducted by financial planning company Self, shows that Apple TV+ had the highest IMDb scores for its titles, averaging 7.24.

    Despite having the highest overall average, Apple didn't lead in average ratings for any particular genre. Its highest-rated category was Mystery. Apple's average rating in that category was 6.76, described as "Good."
    Err, what now?  The overall average is higher than the best category average?  What is your stats guy smoking?
    Spronicnormm
  • Reply 15 of 19
    Many commenters are making great points... Apple is slow wheeling it’s catalog, and the difficulties in carving out its own niche were obvious back when they decided to not serve content with overt sex or violence. 
    I’m not saying that that is required in perpetuity. But I am confident that it is hamstringing potential artists from creating their art. Or maybe not explicitly, but why have restrictions on expression (within reason) when other distributions are more accommodating? I think Apple is comfortable with the bed they’ve made, and they have money and infrastructure to do it... I’m guessing they’re hoping there’s a market for it... but I don’t think there will be without a killer-app, as they say.

    Anyway, I meant to point out that this title is poorly written. And as much as I love this site, I expect better.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 19
    Spronic said:
    Many commenters are making great points... Apple is slow wheeling it’s catalog, and the difficulties in carving out its own niche were obvious back when they decided to not serve content with overt sex or violence. 
    I’m not saying that that is required in perpetuity. But I am confident that it is hamstringing potential artists from creating their art. Or maybe not explicitly, but why have restrictions on expression (within reason) when other distributions are more accommodating? I think Apple is comfortable with the bed they’ve made, and they have money and infrastructure to do it... I’m guessing they’re hoping there’s a market for it... but I don’t think there will be without a killer-app, as they say.

    Anyway, I meant to point out that this title is poorly written. And as much as I love this site, I expect better.
    Apple never made a decision to not serve content with overt sex or violence.  Emphasis on never.  From day one, their programming has been geared primarily towards adults.  Go all the way back to the original launch lineup and examine the shows.  The PG trope was as invalid then as it is now.  There are legitimate criticisms of ATV+.  Apple shying away from sex or violence in it's programming isn't really one of them.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 19
    silvergold84silvergold84 Posts: 107unconfirmed, member
    Actually Apple TV Plus have higher quality. Potentially it will be the best streaming service
  • Reply 18 of 19
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,844member
    Spronic said:
    Many commenters are making great points... Apple is slow wheeling it’s catalog, and the difficulties in carving out its own niche were obvious back when they decided to not serve content with overt sex or violence. 
    You just regurgitated a debunked rumor that Apple titles wouldn’t have sex, violence, or language. The original titles debunked your claim — shows like See were full of brutal violence and sexual content. while Morning Show was loaded with language. Recent thriller Losing Alice has nudity. 

    What are you smoking? It’s clear you haven’t actually seen the content. 
    edited April 2021 Rayz2016
  • Reply 19 of 19
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Actually Apple TV Plus have higher quality. Potentially it will be the best streaming service
    On average.  According to the stats quoted Netflix and others have more quality shows that Apple have shows total.  So if you want quality, Netflix is the better bet, just be prepared to wade through some dross to find it.
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