Apple TV+ Subscribers Who Join for Major Releases Like 'Greyhound' Don't Stick Around

[DocMultimedia]

ATV+ has a lot of high quality shows, but not infinite piles of stuff like other sites. IMO. I think it's more than worth the extra few bucks when tacked on with Music.

Hulu is currently my top choice, then ATV+. But I want soooo much more of the quality Apple buys. Good stuff.

 

[Spock]

The lack of any back catalog doesn’t help, most services have something. Paramount+ has Star Trek and soon Halo. Disney has Marvel and Star Wars, HBO Max has DC and obviously HBO original content. Netflix is getting a little slim but still has an extensive catalog, same with Prime. Apple just doesn’t have it, they really should have went for MGM or something. Servant and For All Mankind is about all they have for me.

 

[Abazigal]

The lack of any back catalog doesn’t help, most services have something. Paramount+ has Star Trek and soon Halo. Disney has Marvel and Star Wars, HBO Max has DC and obviously HBO original content. Netflix is getting a little slim but still has an extensive catalog, same with Prime. Apple just doesn’t have it, they really should have went for MGM or something. Servant and For All Mankind is about all they have for me.

Well, one can argue that TV+ doesn't need a back catalogue when other services do.

Between TV+, Netflix, Disney+ and Youtube Premium, plus music and podcasts, there's usually something to consume, though I find myself gravitating more towards unscripted content on Youtube these days.

 

[calstanford]

Too many subscriptions for too many services that offer too little.

To watch 2-3 shows that run 10 weeks each I'm not going to pay $5 to Apple and another $15 to netflix and another $15 to HBO and another to Hulu or Disney or Amazon or Peacock or Paramount or whoever else starts a new streaming service.

This is now worse than cable.

 

[Spock]

Well, one can argue that TV+ doesn't need a back catalogue when other services do.

Between TV+, Netflix, Disney+ and Youtube Premium, plus music and podcasts, there's usually something to consume, though I find myself gravitating more towards unscripted content on Youtube these days.

That’s a valid point. I also find myself using YouTube a lot more, I got a free three month trial of Premium and I have to say that I will probably keep it.

 

[thingstoponder]

Turn the Tv/Movie store into a streaming library, then we'll talk.

And spend $500 a month?

 

[Lucas Curious]

Care to elaborate as to what "propaganda" you see on ATV+? Humor me with specifics.

Cuties

 

[V.K.]

You can go down a rabbit hole to find something on Netflix, Hulu, and Prime and end up with something at least. 10 minutes browsing Apple TV and you know you have either seen it or don't want to see it before you exit out of the app and go back to Netflix, Hulu, and Prime. Disney+ isn't much better if you don't watch movies and tv shows for kids.

this. I had a year free of ATV+ after I bought an ipad pro a year ago and this was my experience with it every time. Ted Lasso was great. I was excited for Foundation but it turned out to suck. Finch was ok but nothing special. nothing else really grabbed me and I would always leave the app after browing. So I didn't renew this month when I had to either cancel or start paying.

 

[Juicy Box]

I only sign up for about 2-3 streaming services at a time, watch for a while and cancel. I have been doing this for over a decade so far. Just too much content out there to have more than a few streaming services at a time.

For ATV+, I cancelled after my free trial, doubt I will sign back up any time soon. I really wished it had a 12-month free trial per new Apple device purchases. The content available on ATV+ isn't worth it for the current cost.

Well said, but Netflix suffered from this same problem when it only had "House of Cards" and "Orange is the New black" back in 2013 as basically their own 2 shows. They made have another, but it was just like Apple+ and Disney+. Now I can't even keep up with all the Netflix content that comes out basically daily now.

I would say besides the lack of competition, the big difference between Netflix from 2013 and ATV+ of today is that even with Netflix only having a limited collection of originals, they had a huge catalog of licensed content.

There was always something to watch on Netflix, with the exception of the late 2000's, but it was paired with the disc service then so kind of different.

With ATV+, even if someone liked the entire catalog, a heavy stream could get watch all the movies in less than a week, and maybe a month or two for the TV shows. Most people don't like everything, so even a light streamer can get their fill on ATV+ relatively quickly.

 

[topdrawer]

Too many subscriptions for too many services that offer too little.

To watch 2-3 shows that run 10 weeks each I'm not going to pay $5 to Apple and another $15 to netflix and another $15 to HBO and another to Hulu or Disney or Amazon or Peacock or Paramount or whoever else starts a new streaming service.

This is now worse than cable.

how is it worse than cable? you don't have to subscribe to all of them and best of all none of the religion channels are bundled in. even if you were to subscribe to every service, it's still a lot less than a premium cable subscription with [pukeface] live tv.

 

[svish]

Content on Apple TV+ should increase for subscriber addition/retention.

 

[Rich74]

Only have it because of Apple One. Can’t remember last time I used it. The PlayStation 5 app had an update last week though that’s how much I’m bothered.

 

[alexhardaker]

Well, it sounds like I’ll be the only one on here that’s done this, but I’ve found myself paying £50 for a year when my free trial ended today. I’ve had it free since it came out, except maybe 1 month before you could get it free for 6 months for owning a PlayStation 5. There’s quite a few shows I want to watch & I want to watch them as they become available. Yes, it would be cheaper to pay a month or 2 & watch everything back to back, but I don’t want to have to manage the subscription or wait until everything is out.

I was hardly watching Netflix, so ended up cancelling it. I just can’t be bothered scrolling through all the content to try find something to watch, whereas I know what’s on  TV+ & what’s coming out. I’ve watched stay close on Netflix recently, but that’s it. My sister pays for it now.

 

[gregohb]

Suppose the guy who came up with Apple TV was working on ITunes. He would have convinced Apple to hire musicians to write their own hit songs, then attract listeners to binge listen to these new songs. Apple is a computer company - outsource content to content creators.

 

[MacBH928]

Antenna's data is aggregated from third-party apps that help users manage their email inboxes or stick to a monthly budget, and it includes information from a sample of five million U.S. users.

"SPYING"

 

[1rottenapple]

The release of popular Tom Hanks movie "Greyhound" saw a major jump in Apple TV+ subscribers when it launched, but most of those subscribers did not stick around, according to data compiled by subscriber measurement service Antenna and shared by The Wall Street Journal.

Apple TV+ saw around 60,000 sign-ups when Greyhound was released on July 10, 2020, with that number not counting those who signed up for free long-term trials for purchasing an Apple TV product. Fewer than 50 percent of those new users remained subscribed at the six month mark after the "Greyhound" launch, with 30 percent of subscribers who signed up for the movie debut dropping within the first two months.

Apple is not alone in finding it difficult to retain subscribers who sign up specifically for a major new TV show or movie launch. Similar trends were seen with the Disney+ launch of "Hamilton," and the HBO Max premiere of "Wonder Woman 1984."
TV shows like "Ted Lasso" have the potential to keep subscribers for a longer period of time because they are released on a week to week basis, unlike movies that can be watched in one sitting.

Streaming services that want to retain customers need to continually produce popular content to keep subscribers engaged and paying out monthly subscription fees. It's important for streaming services to have a "couple big, nice theatrical movies every quarter to make it feel like it's really valuable," Moffett Nathanson analyst Michael Nathanson told The Wall Street Journal.

Apple has never provided details on how many Apple TV+ subscribers that it has, but the numbers are likely to be far behind popular services that include Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix. Disney+ in particular has seen incredible success since its November 2019 launch, and in November, the streaming service had over 118 million subscribers.

Disney+, Netflix, and Hulu all have much more expansive content offerings, as these services include TV shows and movies sourced from third-party production companies and television networks. Apple TV+ includes almost all original content, and it has not been around long enough for Apple to build up a significant back catalog.

Antenna's data is aggregated from third-party apps that help users manage their email inboxes or stick to a monthly budget, and it includes information from a sample of five million U.S. users.

Article Link: Apple TV+ Subscribers Who Join for Major Releases Like 'Greyhound' Don't Stick Around

Servant and Ted Lasso are what switches my credit card on and off with Apple TV. Hell I’m convinced apple added filler episodes to Ted lesso to make us stick around to 3 renewal peooed instead of two monthsworth. Weak sauce episodes too.

 

[Danfango]

I think what killed it for me was For All Mankind. It was like snorkelling through cow poop. I just can’t face it.

 

[arobert3434]

Greyhound was a good movie. But I got it during my free trial and did not renew due to the small amount of content. It's interesting Apple is sticking with this pure own-content model, but maybe content just got too expensive since everyone wants to monetize it on their own without middlemen.

 

[Ahmamies]

Why would anyone stick around with any of the streaming services?

1) Sign up
2) Binge watch
3) Cancel
4) On to the next one
5) Repeat when enough of your favorites have new seasons/content

This works if you are alone. Does not work if you have several people in the family who have different favorite shows and genres.

That’s one reason why large catalog helps keeping families as subscribers. Our yearly Disney+ subscription is nearly over and we will renew it because; I watch it regularly for SW and for stuff like Dopesick, we all watch it regularly for Marvel and daughter watches animations with friends.

 

[Isengardtom]

Each of them have something I like and a whole lot I don’t.
during the pandemic and the winter I subscribed to all of them but soon I think I’ll start rotating Netflix and prime.

I think it’s going to be a bloodbath with these streaming models in the next few years.

 

[211]

Apple's lack of promotion compared to its other products and services doesn't help. It also doesn't help that it keeps pushing Ted Lasso all the time and nothing else, as it comes across as that's the only thing to watch. Who will continually subscribe to a service just for one show? There are many things I liked on tv+ that gets some promotion when they are initially released, then gone. I have watched most of the content on tv+. The good stuff IMO are:

The After Party
Mythic Quest
The Morning Show
Dickinson
The Snoopy Show
The Line
Trying
Defending Jacob
Tehran
Ted Lasso
Schmigadoon!
Physical
Calls
Helpsters
Ghostwriter
Watch The Sound
The Beastie Boys Story
CODA
Wolfwalkers
'Twas The Fight Before Christmas
Boys State
The Elephant Queen
The Year Earth Changed
Long Way Round/Down/Up
Tiny World
Earth At Night In Color
Visible: Out Of Television

tv+ is still relatively new and it'll take time to have a decent amount of content. The lockdowns didn't help with that. People will jump from one service to another. I believe people did that after they finished content like The Mandalorian, Hamilton, Stranger Things, Squid Game, etc. - and they are from well-established or very well-known services. Apple needs to have a few more Ted Lassos for people to consider it seriously. It hoped Foundation would be its Game Of Thrones, but that didn't happen (I haven't watched that one yet).

Instead of people saying "I have it free/included and never used it lol", why not give it a try?

 

[1300767]

I got 3mo of ATV+ for free with my iPhone 13 Pro Max purchase, activated the free period and cancelled it 1hr after. I dont watch series at all, and all the movies I wanted to see there had a $ sign on it.

The last time I was actually interested in any serie was way back when we still had a gem called Firefly, and Dark Angel. Those series were phenomenal.

I dont like Netflix that much, had a free period once but noticed the same crap there that shows on my tv for free multiple times a week. Movies Ive seen a thousand times already.

Apple should open up ATV and actually make it useful, I thoroughly love Apple Music and how it suggests me some great new bands.

These days when Im old and grumpy I lose interest in series very fast, I can watch 1 or 2 episodes and forget everything about it and say I couldnt care less about this serie and I will never bother watching it again.

 

[ReddJive]

The only streaming service I keep on the regular is Disney....and only because I am a Star Wars geek. Apple TV has no show I want to watch repeatedly. Even the two shows I watch there are not quality repeats. So like many others I cancel once I am done. There is no incentive to stay for long.

Apple is proving a theory I have about streaming content creators. That theory is that they will make shows that otherwise would never survive unpaid services like public TV or The movie theaters. Apple has released some truly bad shows and keep them going when traditional broadcasting would have cut them lose or never made them.

I think the challenge for any of the streaming content creators is to keep enough good shows going throughout the year other wise people are going o re-up and cancel. Like the old days of not watching TV during rerun season.

 

[2REPOU]

I haven't been impressed. Love Ted Lasso but nothing else

 

[Biro]

I bought an iPhone in July and got a year of free Apple TV+. Haven't watched it once. I also never watched it when I had three free months via my Variety subscription.

Honest question: Why haven't you at least checked it out? I'm not saying you'll love or even like it. But it's there for you to at least sample. You never know.