New research from MoffettNathan suggests that "Apple's entry into the so-called "streaming wars" with Apple TV+ is at a distinct disadvantage compared with rivals. In the fourth quarter, 62% of Apple TV+ subscribers said that they were on the free promotional offer that Apple extended to buyers of its hardware devices. More worrisome is that 29% of the respondents stated that don't plan to resubscribe once the promo period expires. Only 30% said they plan to renew at the regular $4.99/month price (and the rest were unsure)."

Yet to be fair and for the survey to have any meaning, we actually need to know how the remaining 41% actually swings. If Apple could gain 21% of the those sitting on the fence, Apple will have gained 50% from the promotion and news wouldn't necessarily be on the negative side of the equation.

With that said, the Variety report goes on to state in part that "A big issue for Apple TV Plus is its very limited content lineup, compared with the thousands of titles available on other SVOD services. Currently, Apple TV Plus offers a total of 55 originals (11 drama series, six comedy series, 13 nonfiction series, 11 films and 14 family series and specials). Those include breakouts like “The Morning Show” and “Ted Lasso,” but in terms of sheer tonnage, Apple TV Plus is far below the rest of the SVOD field.

Apple has a slate of originals in the pipeline, but that’s still not in the same league as Netflix, Disney Plus or HBO Max. Upcoming releases on Apple TV Plus include Season 2 of Ronald D. Moore’s “For All Mankind” (Feb. 19); and Anthony and Joe Russo’s film “Cherry” starring Tom Holland as an addict who resorts to bank heists to pay his debts (Feb. 26).

Meanwhile, the percentage of U.S. consumers who said they use Apple TV Plus declined from 10% in November 2020 to 8% in December, per the MoffettNathanson report. In December, 72% of respondents said they use Netflix, followed by Amazon Prime Video (52%), Hulu (39%), Disney Plus (31%) and HBO Max (13%).

One of the many survey findings that surfaced was that the average U.S. Pay-TV household now subscribes to an average of 3 SVOD services. At present, Apple doesn't seem to be on most consumers short list." There's more to the story along with a lot of statistics that you could review in this Variety report.   

I've said it a few times and I'll repeat it again: Dragging Apple TV+ series out over many weeks is an old-TV network staple and it kills the momentum of watching a good series. Netflix and Prime allow users to binge-watch a new original series over a day or weekend.  Tonight, Prime is offering a new series called Flack. All 6 episodes are available right out of the gate.

In contrast, Apple TV+ launched 'Losing Alice' today with only the first 3-episodes made available. It's then dragged out over the next five weeks to see the ending. For some subscribers that's not an issue while for others, spoiled by Netflix and Prime, it is. I believe that subscribers would be more faithful in keeping their Apple TV+ subscription if Apple competed a little harder by offering full series access when a show debuts. 

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Archive: Apple TV News