Apple TV+ content enjoys the highest average IMDb score of any streaming service, according to a new study. It comes in tops in a variety of areas, including dramas and child-friendly shows.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise: Apple’s streaming video service regularly wins awards, including a Best Picture Oscar in 2022.
Apple TV+ provides quality over quantity
Apple TV+ consists almost entirely of original content – the Mac-maker produced virtually everything on the the service. That allows it to offer top-quality TV series and films, but the selection remains limited compared to its rivals.
“While Apple TV+ does not currently have a lot of content in its subscription fee, offering just 147 titles for the $4.99 monthly fee, it did have the highest overall quality out of any streaming service analyzed,” noted Self Financial in its annual study of the industry.
The study found that 89% of films or TV series on Apple’s service rated an “Excellent” by IMDb. For example, Ted Lasso has an 8.8 score. Severance has an 8.7. Anything above 8 is considered excellent. By comparison, only 73.39% of Netflix offerings earned an Excellent. For Disney+, it was 78.37%.
The Apple service’s average rating is 7.08 out of 10.
When it comes to child-friendly content (suitable for ages 7 and under), the average IMDb score for Apple TV+ shows is 7.34/10. Its average score for dramas is 7.34/10. Both averages are higher than any rival service.
Apple TV+ offers small but growing catalog
Apple TV+’s weakness is selection. As noted, it offers only 147 movies or TV series, according to Self Financial. For comparison, Netflix serves up 6,475. HBO Max currently offers 3,503. Still, Apple is working to close the gap. It increased its number of offerings by 55.78% in the past year.
Self Financial spoke to Jason Cherubini, co-founder of Dawn’s Light Media, a film production company producing action and thriller feature films, about the study’s findings.
“Apple TV+ has made a fairly significant splash in the streaming wars by focusing almost exclusively on prestige programming,” Cherubini said. “While they may not have the depth of content as their competition, the high quality of their programming and the word-of-mouth popularity that it generates makes it a must-have service for many consumers.”
