Apple TV+ subscriptions flat despite COVID-19 quarantine, increased demand for originals

Fresh research data shows Apple TV+ is not experiencing a bump in subscriber numbers during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a period that brought major gains to other services like Disney+ and Hulu.

According to statistics from Antenna, Apple TV+ is the only major streaming service to not see a significant boost in new subscribers amid worldwide quarantines and stay-at-home orders, reports Business Insider. The firm compared signup data from March and April with that of February, when coronavirus precautions were not widely implemented.

Antenna gleans its data from transactional information like credit card payments.

Despite the lack of surge growth, customers are supposedly seeking out Apple's original programming. Parrot Analytics, which tracks audience demand, saw increased interest in Apple TV+ content, with so-called "demand share" increasing some 10% among competitors in the seven weeks after March 11, the report said.

"The impact the pandemic is having on audience demand has certainly helped Apple TV Plus so far," said Steve Langdon, partnership director at Parrot Analytics. Langdon added that Chris Evans vehicle "Defending Jacob" has been a standout hit for the service.

Apple has yet to disclose official Apple TV+ numbers, but a report this week claims the platform hit 10 million signups as of February. By contrast, Disney+ achieved as many subscribers in just 10 days, a number that swelled to 50 million users in April.

The Cupertino-based tech giant is reportedly looking to expand Apple TV+ beyond brand exclusives and originals, and this week reached a $70 million deal for rights to "Greyhound" starring Tom Hanks.

31 Comments

anantksundaram 20390 comments · 18 Years

About 4 years ago

AppleTV+ badly needs to up its game. There’s some really good stuff there, but too much PC nonsense. And Apple needs to commit some serious cash to purchase a library. (There’s a reason Amazon has become so successful in this space).

Otherwise it’ll be written off in a few years as a ‘hobby’, or at best, it’ll follow the fate of News and limp along.

elijahg 2822 comments · 18 Years

fastasleep said:

anantksundaram said:

AppleTV+ badly needs to up its game. There’s some really good stuff there, but too much PC nonsense. And Apple needs to commit some serious cash to purchase a library. (There’s a reason Amazon has become so successful in this space).
Otherwise it’ll be written off in a few years as a ‘hobby’, or at best, it’ll follow the fate of News and limp along.

"PC nonsense" translation: LGBTQ, women, and people of color

Wrong. Orange is the New Black is very very non-PC. It is almost entirely women. Many of the lead roles are lesbians, some are bisexual, and there is a transgender woman in it too. Several more lead roles are black woman, amongst Asian women and many Hispanic women too. So no, "PC nonsense" doesn't mean "LGBTQ, women, and people of color". It means scared to offend. And boy, Netflix isn't scared to offend.

fastasleep 6450 comments · 14 Years

elijahg said:

fastasleep said:

anantksundaram said:

AppleTV+ badly needs to up its game. There’s some really good stuff there, but too much PC nonsense. And Apple needs to commit some serious cash to purchase a library. (There’s a reason Amazon has become so successful in this space).
Otherwise it’ll be written off in a few years as a ‘hobby’, or at best, it’ll follow the fate of News and limp along.

"PC nonsense" translation: LGBTQ, women, and people of color

Wrong. Orange is the New Black is very very non-PC. It is almost entirely women. Many of the lead roles are lesbians, some are bisexual, and there is a transgender woman in it too. Several more lead roles are black woman, amongst Asian women and many Hispanic women too. So no, "PC nonsense" doesn't mean "LGBTQ, women, and people of color". It means scared to offend. And boy, Netflix isn't scared to offend.

Who was talking about Netflix?

libertyforall 1417 comments · 16 Years

ATV+ content mostly totally sucks!

Have not seen anything really appealing yet...

Now if they rebooted Stargate Universe, I would be all over that, for instance.

apple ][ 9225 comments · 13 Years

I am still giving Apple the benefit of the doubt, as these sorts of things take a long time to build up.

I think that people just want to be entertained. Make something good and entertaining and people will like it. Of course, that is easier said than done. But Apple has deep pockets, so they should be able get good content.

I do not want any service to preach to me, I do not want them to push their views on me and I do not want them to be political. Leave your damn politics at home or you will suffer the consequences.