Apple TV viewing hours surged 709 percent in March quarter

Video streaming on the Apple TV rocketed higher during the March quarter, with viewing hours up 709 percent year-over-year, according to newly published research data.

By comparison, Roku hours were up 87 percent, said video AI platform Conviva, cited by TechCrunch. Roku, however, maintained the lead in total hours streamed — one billion — versus the Apple TV's 256 million.

The video streaming industry as a whole is said to have grown hours watched by 114 percent to almost 5 billion. Conviva's data is relatively comprehensive, as its clients include the likes of CBS, Hulu, HBO, NBC, Turner, and Sky.

It's not clear what was behind the surge of the Apple TV, but the Apple TV 4K launched in September. One of Apple's coups with the product was the ability to buy 4K versions of many movies at the same cost as 1080p. In some cases, previously purchased 1080p movies can be upgraded automatically.

The set-top box is also one of the few that can output HDR (high dynamic range) video using either Dolby Vision or HDR10 — many devices only support one of the two, if any. Amazon also resumed Apple TV sales in December, simultaneously bringing its Prime Video app to tvOS.

Apple may still have trouble catching up to Roku, which has had success with an agnostic approach to streaming services, as well as selling many different tiers of hardware. The company has also partnered with makers like TCL and Sharp on TVs that use Roku OS as their native interface.

25 Comments

CobraGuy 76 comments · 7 Years

About 6 years ago

The Roku is ok.

But the Apple TV has better quality apps plus some pretty good games.

Also quite a bit more powerful.

The Roku’s main card is pricing. It’s most expensive box is about half the price of a 4k Apple TV.

ireland 17435 comments · 18 Years

Apple should sell an entry level machine at a lower cost. In my neck of the woods, for example, the cheapest ATV is €159 ($194). They should have kept the old model around IMO.

Regarding gaming, they should produce a genuine first party dedicated gaming controller. ‘People who are serious about software should make their own hardware’.

sirlance99 1301 comments · 11 Years

Still need Atmos.

boltsfan17 2294 comments · 12 Years

ireland said:

Apple should sell an entry level machine at a lower cost. In my neck of the woods, for example, the cheapest ATV is €159 ($194). They should have kept the old model around IMO.

Regarding gaming, they should produce a genuine first party dedicated gaming controller. ‘People who are serious about software should make their own hardware’.

At this point, I don't think Apple should make their own controller. Gaming has been a huge letdown on the ATV4. It drives me nuts when I see Nintendo and old Sega titles being released on the iPhone, but nothing for the ATV. There is so much potential, but it seems like game developers have forgotten about the ATV.

sirlance99 said:

Still need Atmos.

That would be great. Has Apple ever said Dolby Atmos would eventually be supported? I believe the Verge or some other site mentioned it, but they didn't provide any sources from Apple.