Apple TV+ not reaching the 1% threshold on Nielsen sounds like a big fail, but, the thing I also see there is HBO, the legendary TV brand, barely exceeding the 1%. And I would say Apple TV more than any other streamer is trying to emulate the HBO model. Selling a higher quality product rather than chasing mere viewership. For Apple TV+, ratings mean nothing, they only sell subscriptions.
Serious question - how does Nielsen get its data? This is purely anecdotal but I know lots of people in my circle (friends, work colleagues) who watch Apple TV shows. I realize Apple TV doesn’t get massive viewership but HBO Max doesn’t track very high on that chart and I know lots of people watch House of the Dragon or The Pitt.
Excellent analysis of Apple TV+ and overview of current industry usage. and subscribership. I have Apple TV+, BritBox and NetFlix only with Roku and recently cancelled YouTube TV and bravely bought an antenna. It is amazing the volume of programming coming via my antenna, including only films. Roku organizes the Live TV clearly. I will keep Apple TV+ until Cape Fear is finished and then I will cancel it again. Their emphasis - which was mentioned here - on sci-fi has turned me off in the past. Severance was simply too bizarre. Stat Significant with Daniel Parris is excellent. Enjoy all the postings, too....Thanks!
I'm an Apple TV+ subscriber and your Substack with the Nielsen charts was the first time I realized how small their subscriber base was! I watch a ton of shows on there and think they do a great job prioritizing quality over quantity which perhaps is part of the problem..no trashy shows for the masses haha. You may not have the data, but it would be interesting to compare the demographics of their subscribers to other streaming services.
In the meantime, the few of us subscribers will continue to feast on the great shows they've been producing!
That graph with the Nielsen Gauge seems to suggest the big story is YouTube. Remember 2019, when YouTube was also producing its own shows, like Apple TV? Seems like they made the right call to get out of that game and let the *users* spend the money to make the shows.
A couple of other things:
- Apple TV seems like its doubling down on sci-fi shows (Neuromancer), which I guess is appropriate for its sleek tech brand.
- In 2023, Paramount Plus had as terrible numbers as Peacock. Taylor Sheridan really did save that service! This deserves its own story! He knows how to reach an audience other showrunners do not. When Sheridan moves to Universal in 2028, it will be interesting to see if Paramount can sustain its success.
I remember a survey from a few years back where even "Ted Lasso" fans didn't know it was on Apple TV+ (or Apple TV, now).
Honestly, it seems like a ton of streaming customers just think Apple TV's content exists out there in the ether of the streaming space, like Roku Channel or Tubi. Difference is, they're paying for Apple TV.
Ironically, Apple is one of the greatest branding success stories in history in the tech/DTC/consumer goods' space – but is a failure in branding a DTC/media production and distribution company.
Wouldn't be surprised if they eventually shut down their streamer, convert it to a "content waypoint" (e.g. Roku), and license their most-popular produced content to other streamers/channels.
In my opinion, Apple TV's issue is a lack of proper advertising, especially outside their own ecosystem. They occasionally do larger offline PR activities (like the one for Severance in Grand Central), but it's rare. They barely do digital or out-of-home, even in the US. So, when their show goes viral, the service doesn't gain popularity due to a lack of brand linkage between the show and streaming (which is normally achieved through ads, where you see the show + platform branding).
When they run ads, they go very low-funnel and advertise the whole streaming service. This doesn't work if you don't have awareness and consideration built in the top and mid-funnel.
It still baffles me why they don't have proper marketing campaigns for their shows. It's not like they don't have money. But I think Apple overall is very used to the brand selling itself, in a way. Which doesn't really work when you come to a completely new niche (from tech to entertainment).
Interestingly, Prime Video, being in the same quadrant, has kind of an opposite issue. The quality of their content is quite unstable, and they themselves struggle to predict what shows can do well. They often end up advertising the wrong thing and not advertising something that has potential (and ends up going viral organically). So they are bad at predicting and also at catching the momentum (additionally boosting organically viral stuff).
Both of the platforms largely survive because their streaming subscription often comes as a bonus to something else (Prime delivery, purchasing a device), and they have another source of income that can save their streaming.
But I really hope Apple TV starts properly advertising their shows, because I like a lot of their content and it deserves a bigger fanbase.
Funny enough I think the branding geniuses at Apple created a branding problem. They named the hardware device Apple TV
and the streaming service the same thing! I suspect many people think they need an Apple TV device to watch Apple TV shows on their TV.
Apple TV+ not reaching the 1% threshold on Nielsen sounds like a big fail, but, the thing I also see there is HBO, the legendary TV brand, barely exceeding the 1%. And I would say Apple TV more than any other streamer is trying to emulate the HBO model. Selling a higher quality product rather than chasing mere viewership. For Apple TV+, ratings mean nothing, they only sell subscriptions.
There literally isn't something called Apple TV+.
Also, why are we pretending Nielsen's streaming numbers are remotely accurate?
That’s because in 2025 Apple changed the name Apple TV+ to Apple TV.
Which is about a year before this post was written.
Serious question - how does Nielsen get its data? This is purely anecdotal but I know lots of people in my circle (friends, work colleagues) who watch Apple TV shows. I realize Apple TV doesn’t get massive viewership but HBO Max doesn’t track very high on that chart and I know lots of people watch House of the Dragon or The Pitt.
https://movieweb.com/silo-scifi-streaming-success-apple-july-2026/
Excellent analysis of Apple TV+ and overview of current industry usage. and subscribership. I have Apple TV+, BritBox and NetFlix only with Roku and recently cancelled YouTube TV and bravely bought an antenna. It is amazing the volume of programming coming via my antenna, including only films. Roku organizes the Live TV clearly. I will keep Apple TV+ until Cape Fear is finished and then I will cancel it again. Their emphasis - which was mentioned here - on sci-fi has turned me off in the past. Severance was simply too bizarre. Stat Significant with Daniel Parris is excellent. Enjoy all the postings, too....Thanks!
I'm an Apple TV+ subscriber and your Substack with the Nielsen charts was the first time I realized how small their subscriber base was! I watch a ton of shows on there and think they do a great job prioritizing quality over quantity which perhaps is part of the problem..no trashy shows for the masses haha. You may not have the data, but it would be interesting to compare the demographics of their subscribers to other streaming services.
In the meantime, the few of us subscribers will continue to feast on the great shows they've been producing!
That graph with the Nielsen Gauge seems to suggest the big story is YouTube. Remember 2019, when YouTube was also producing its own shows, like Apple TV? Seems like they made the right call to get out of that game and let the *users* spend the money to make the shows.
A couple of other things:
- Apple TV seems like its doubling down on sci-fi shows (Neuromancer), which I guess is appropriate for its sleek tech brand.
- In 2023, Paramount Plus had as terrible numbers as Peacock. Taylor Sheridan really did save that service! This deserves its own story! He knows how to reach an audience other showrunners do not. When Sheridan moves to Universal in 2028, it will be interesting to see if Paramount can sustain its success.
I remember a survey from a few years back where even "Ted Lasso" fans didn't know it was on Apple TV+ (or Apple TV, now).
Honestly, it seems like a ton of streaming customers just think Apple TV's content exists out there in the ether of the streaming space, like Roku Channel or Tubi. Difference is, they're paying for Apple TV.
Ironically, Apple is one of the greatest branding success stories in history in the tech/DTC/consumer goods' space – but is a failure in branding a DTC/media production and distribution company.
Wouldn't be surprised if they eventually shut down their streamer, convert it to a "content waypoint" (e.g. Roku), and license their most-popular produced content to other streamers/channels.
In my opinion, Apple TV's issue is a lack of proper advertising, especially outside their own ecosystem. They occasionally do larger offline PR activities (like the one for Severance in Grand Central), but it's rare. They barely do digital or out-of-home, even in the US. So, when their show goes viral, the service doesn't gain popularity due to a lack of brand linkage between the show and streaming (which is normally achieved through ads, where you see the show + platform branding).
When they run ads, they go very low-funnel and advertise the whole streaming service. This doesn't work if you don't have awareness and consideration built in the top and mid-funnel.
It still baffles me why they don't have proper marketing campaigns for their shows. It's not like they don't have money. But I think Apple overall is very used to the brand selling itself, in a way. Which doesn't really work when you come to a completely new niche (from tech to entertainment).
Interestingly, Prime Video, being in the same quadrant, has kind of an opposite issue. The quality of their content is quite unstable, and they themselves struggle to predict what shows can do well. They often end up advertising the wrong thing and not advertising something that has potential (and ends up going viral organically). So they are bad at predicting and also at catching the momentum (additionally boosting organically viral stuff).
Both of the platforms largely survive because their streaming subscription often comes as a bonus to something else (Prime delivery, purchasing a device), and they have another source of income that can save their streaming.
But I really hope Apple TV starts properly advertising their shows, because I like a lot of their content and it deserves a bigger fanbase.