Roger Fingas
J.D. Power on Thursday published a new customer satisfaction survey for paid video streaming services, ranking Apple's iTunes below three major competitors.
Apple scored 807 in index ratings, under Netflix's 829, Hulu's 821, and VUDU's 810, the market research firm said. Points were calculated based on responses from 3,928 people between June and July, who were polled about factors like cost, content, ease of use, and customer service.
Speaking to AppleInsider, J.D. Power noted that iTunes did poorly mostly because of complaints about cost and customer service. iTunes only supports purchases and rentals — while Netflix and Hulu don't offer downloads, subscribers to them can watch anything they have available for less than $10 per month.
Another factor though was content, as Netflix and Hulu have exclusive shows like Stranger Things and The Path. Apple's content library is fairly comprehensive, but limited to what studios and TV networks are willing to provide.
Apple has sometimes been rumored as delving into live TV streaming and/or original programming, but so far the latter has only generated material for Apple Music, and its live TV efforts have been stalled in negotiations.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
22 Comments
If Apple were to offer a steaming subscription tier like Netflix I would probably be on board. I like iTunes in that I can rent or buy the latest movie releases. I don’t like the fact that my only options are rent/purchase. Netflix may offer on demand streaming but the vast majority of their content is B movies. Rarely do you see a first run movie until months or a year later. If iTunes had all three options rent/buy/subscription streaming I would probably drop Netflix in a heartbeat.
iTunes is complimentary to services like Netflix and HBO Now.
Is this another Eddie Cue service?
This is a ridiculous comparison. iTunes is not a streaming service, so comparing it to three streaming services is absurd. I've always found the quality and selection to be excellent.
In my household I use Netflix, Hulu, Plex (TiVo Roamio Plus; Plex streams from a dedicated Mac Mini running Plex server), and iTunes (Apple TV 4th gen). My Roamio Plus is connected wirelessly (and thus my Mac Mini for Plex) and my Apple TV is wired, and iTunes on the ATV definitely has the slowest performance (time to first play, scrubbing, freezing, etc.). Non-scientific, but still telling.