Apple TV+ is frequently ignored in lists of the top SVOD services and is not driving enough viewership to show up against services like Netflix. But it is carving out a distinct identity though it might not be sustainable.
Content investment goes a long way
Netflix spent $17 billion on content in 2022, while Amazon spent $10 billion. Apple’s investment was a more modest $7 billion, a drop in the ocean for a company that generated almost $400 billion in revenue in 2022. However, the company appears to be making its content budget work harder than its contemporaries.
New Reelgood data show that viewership is growing faster than library size. The company says that between Jun 2022 and June 2023, Apple TV+’s library increased by 53% to 199 titles. However, its viewership share almost doubled, from 1.1% to 2.2%.[i] Much of the growth occurred in the first half of 2023.
Netflix continues to spend lavishly on content but is not getting the viewership boost Apple is seeing. NextTV analyzed Netflix’s top shows and found that performance is down from 2022. The company says that in the five months between January and May of 2023, viewing was down around 330 million viewing hours versus the same period in 2022.
Apple TV plus producing more hits
The problem for Netflix, at least according to NextTV, is that it isn’t producing as many hits. Certainly, looking at Emmy nominations, the company could have a point. Since 2019, the number of Emmy 
nominations Netflix received has declined yearly, from 160 to 103 in 2023. Beef, DAHMER, and Wednesday did well for Netflix in 2023, as did its long-running hit The Crown.
Apple TV+, on the other hand, has increased the number of Emmy nominations it received each year over the same period. The service had 18 nominations in 2019 and 54 in 2023. Ted Lasso remains a huge hit for the service, but it also succeeded with Shrinking, Bad Sisters, Black Bird, and Schmigadoon.
Sports are winning over new users
Sports is an area of differentiation for Apple TV+ is working well. Its 10-year $2.5 billion investment in worldwide exclusive MLS rights seems to be working out well in its first season. Generally, the game coverage has been well-received by viewers and is, apparently, much better than the coverage provided by Fox on regular TV. It has also recently received a huge boost with the league and Apple working together to lure the world’s best footballer, Lionel Messi, to join the fledging Inter Miami. The deal was not cheap. His salary and equity in the team are worth a reported $150 million. However, he will also receive some revenue share from Apple as part of his 2-and-a-half-year deal.
Apple’s MLB Friday Night Doubleheaders have not been quite as well received by fans, many of whom have criticized the quality of the coverage. Apple is undeterred and has brought back the Friday Night Doubleheader this season, expanding coverage from 13 countries to 60 and asking US fans to pay $6.99 monthly to watch.
The company is also looking to expand its sports coverage. It is talking with Bundesliga executives regarding rights to Germany’s top soccer league. ESPN currently owns the rights in the US through the 2025/26 season.
Sports is something Netflix continues to shy away from. The closest it comes to sports is with shoulder content like F1’s Drive to Survive and an upcoming docuseries on the US team at the Women’s World Cup.
Apple TV+’s premium formula sustainable?
Apple’s focus on quality content and sports is gradually establishing it as a premium content provider in the SVOD market. But will Apple sustain the momentum?
It is rumored to be preparing to launch an ad-supported tier for the service. If it does so, it won’t be easy to position with subscribers as the company has a reputation for rigorously protecting and not abusing its user’s personal information.
It must also face the looming threat of the writer’s and actor’s strike. And with the smallest content library in the industry, it has only sports to fall back on if the flow of new content dries up.
[i] Reelgood’s viewership share looks at monthly playbacks of SVOD service through Reelgood.
