| Cult of Mac

Disney+ price jumps sharply

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You'll be paying more to stream Disney, Marvel and Star Wars series.
Photo: The Walt Disney Company

Disney will soon hike the monthly subscription price of its streaming service almost 40%. When Disney+ first launched, it was one of the cheapest streaming streaming services. Not for much longer.

The company also increased the cost of Hulu and ESPN+.

Hulu adds SharePlay support on iPhone and iPad

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Hulu adds SharePlay support
Enjoy Hulu content with your friends, wherever they may be.
Image: Hulu/Cult of Mac

Hulu today joined the list of third-party video streaming services that offer SharePlay support on iPhone and iPad.

Its latest app update gives viewers the ability to enjoy movies and TV shows with their friends over FaceTime while everyone stays in sync. It also adds the ability to easily switch between channels for Live TV users.

Apple TV+ share of streaming market just keeps growing

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Apple TV+ has a growing chunk of the U.S. streaming market. Netflix does not.
Photo: Apple

Apple TV+ garners 5% of the U.S. streaming video market, according to a company that follows the industry. While that makes Apple TV+ a small player, the service started 2021 with just a 3% share, so the year saw significant growth.

Its two largest rivals, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, saw drops in their shares of the streaming market in 2021.

Apple TV+ is the only streaming service that takes your privacy seriously

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Most streaming services are watching you while you watch them.
Photo: Apple

Almost every video streaming service except Apple TV+ is selling your data to third-party companies and tracking your viewing habits for targeted ads. A new report from Common Sense Media exposes the loose privacy policies employed by most streaming providers, including Amazon and Netflix.

“Many viewers know that free streaming apps are most likely selling their personal information, but most viewers may not know that most paid sub‐ scription streaming apps are also selling users’ data,” warns the report.

Long and fraught: The path to success for Apple TV+

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Apple TV+ Autumn 2021: Apple TV+ has some big shows coming this year.
Apple TV+ has some big shows coming this year.
Photo: Apple TV+

A year and a half in, Apple TV+ remains something of a black box. Ever since the streaming video service’s launch in November 2019, Cupertino has refused to reveal hard data about just how well Apple TV+ is doing.

In some respects, the future looks promising. Apple TV+ continues to add high-profile projects to its production queue. Apple TV+ shows and movies continue to rack up awards. And upcoming originals like an epic sci-fi adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation and the second season of surprise hit Ted Lasso are generating buzz.

Plus, with the original one-year free trials ending — and new free Apple TV+ trials slashed to just three months — the $4.99-a-month streaming service seems increasingly confident about its value proposition for viewers.

Still, the Apple TV+ library continues to be dwarfed by rivals like Netflix and Disney+.

So what does the future hold? And what does “success” look like for Apple TV+ anyway? Cult of Mac asked the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a pseudonymous entertainment executive who writes about the business, how Apple TV+ is faring and what to expect next. His responses have been lightly edited for clarity.

Apple hires a top dealmaker who worked for Quibi, Hulu, and Disney

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Tim Connolly LinkedIn
Connolly recently updated his LinkedIn profile.
Photo: LinkedIn

Apple has hired a former executive who worked for shortform video service Quibi, in addition to Hulu and Disney, to work on growing its video-focused endeavors.

Spotted by the UK’s Telegraph newspaper, Tim Connolly recently updated his LinkedIn profile to reflect his job at Apple. It’s not evident exactly when he started working in the new role.

Apple TV+ still struggles to find an audience

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Apple TV+ has yet to cut into the lead of well-established streaming video services.
Apple TV+ emphasizes that it offers only original programming. But so far that’s not working.
Photo: Apple

Apple TV+ has just a tiny fraction of the U.S. streaming video market, according to a market-research firm. Even nine months after its launch, it’s well behind well-established rivals like Netflix and even the other newcomer, Disney+.

Dystopia doesn’t get any more disturbing than The Handmaid’s Tale [What We’re Into]

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In The Handmaid's Tale, Elisabeth Moss makes the nightmare real.
The Handmaid's Tale centers on Offred (played by Elisabeth Moss).
Photo: George Kraychyk/Hulu

What We're Into bug If you thought life during COVID-19 lockdown seems awful, trust me — it’s got nothing on Gilead. That’s the fictional setting of The Handmaid’s Tale, a riveting dystopian TV show that’s racked up awards for Hulu since its 2017 debut on the streaming service.

I’ve burned my way through the first season, and I can’t take my eyes off this terrifying vision of a perverted future.

Apple TV+ is still a long way from winning viewers’ hearts

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Apple TV+ is free to everyone who buys a new iPhone, Mac or iPad.
Although people generally like Apple TV+, they like rival streaming services more.
Photo: Apple

Apple TV+ won an accolade no one wants: it’s the streaming video service viewers are most likely to cancel once it stops being free.

Still, satisfaction with Apple’s offering is fairly high, according to survey results revealed on Friday. But people like almost all its competitors more.