Apple TV+ lags far behind Netflix, Amazon Prime Video when it comes to ‘bang for your buck’

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Apple TV+ isn't the place to go if you're all about quantity.
Photo: Apple

When it comes to how much content you get for your dollar, Amazon Prime Video is the best value VOD (video-on-demand) service and Apple TV+ is the worst, claims movie and TV search engine Reelgood.

At a time when new streaming services are launching all the time, the company ran the numbers to compare the likes of Netflix, HBO Max, Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, and Apple TV+. Unsurprisingly, Apple TV+ doesn’t fare too well.

The research, which was shared in a recent blog post, looks at content included with each subscription package. It then breaks this down into the overall number of movies and TV shows for each streaming service, and the number of “quality” and “high quality” content as measured through IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes reviews.

Amazon Prime Video wins for total number of movies — with 2.39x more movies available than Netflix’s current 3,781 films. Netflix and the recently launched HBO Max also do very well in this category. Netflix wins on the “high quality” TV show front, followed by Hulu, and Prime Video in third place. The report notes that:

“Conclusion: If you’re in it for critically acclaimed films, get yourself a Prime Video subscription. And if you’re a sucker for highly-rated TV series (most of which are originals), Netflix is your best bet.”

How does Apple TV+ measure up?

TV shows per dollar
Here’s how six of the biggest video-on-demand subscription services stack up.
Photo: Reelgood

Apple TV+ doesn’t get an official write-up in the blog post, although it ranks dead last when it comes to “bang for your buck.” A chart accompanying the blog post notes that Apple TV+ offers four total TV shows per dollar, three shows rated 6.5+ on IMDB, and one rated 8.0+ on IMDB.

Apple laid down the gauntlet when it undercut competitors by offering its streaming service for just $5 per month. What’s more, it gave away one year’s free subscription to anyone who bought a new iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV device.

According to one recent report, the number of subscribers currently using this free sub service is around half of Apple TV+’s total subscriber number. (This free subscriber mechanism calls into question some of Reelgood‘s conclusions since it technically doesn’t cost users anything — unless they specifically bought a new device just to get an Apple TV+ subscription.)

Apple TV+ lacks the sheer content overload of other platforms

There’s no doubt that Apple TV+ lags far behind when it comes to sheer weight of content, though. With just one kid-oriented exception, Apple TV+ features no reruns produced for other platforms. That makes it different to every other service, which built their names based on reruns and existing properties, alongside original shows.

As I’ve pointed out before, there have been multiple weeks in which there is zero new content on Apple TV+. That’s different to the likes of Netflix, which drop new shows seemingly every day. Ultimately, Apple is pursuing an approach based around Apple Originals and quantity over quality. Whether that winds up working in its favor remains to be seen.

What is your take on Apple TV+ here in 2020? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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