Apple TV+ market share overtakes soccer-centric competitor

Apple TV+ has seen a slow but gradual growth since its launch back in 2019. The streaming service was essentially late to the game when they arrived on the scene. After all, popular over-the-top on-demand subscription services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video have all been in place for over a decade.

While they were a bit late to the party, Apple has a big enough following to make an impactful streaming service. Content, however, is obviously crucial to gaining substantial subscriptions in the industry. Apple TV+ has, so far, followed through in providing quality content. The tech giant recently announced that they are producing new seasons of hit shows such as Severance, Silo, and Pachinko.

Apple TV+ now has the sixth-most streaming subscribers

9to5Mac previously reported that Apple TV+ grew by 1% during the first quarter of 2024. While this may not seem like a significant figure, the news outlet claims that it is certainly positive news for the company. Apple then followed up the small success earlier in the year by gaining another 1% increase in the most recent financial quarter.

This result, according to the aforementioned website, means that Apple TV+ now has a 9% market share among streaming services. The jump has allowed the company to narrowly overtake Paramount+ for the sixth spot in the rankings. CBS’ streaming service was launched five years prior to Apple’s and currently offers exclusive access to UEFA’s Champions League and Europa League in the United States.

“We have seen some changes with Apple TV+, it has an overall increase in market shares as well as several pieces of original content that have ranked on our streaming charts throughout this quarter. AppleTV+ is now moving closer to Disney+ in terms of size in the US SVOD market,” a representative at JustWatch explained to 9to5Mac.

U.S. market share rankings provided by JustWatch:

Amazon Prime Video: 22%
Netflix: 22%
Max: 14%
Disney+: 11%
Hulu: 10%
Apple TV+: 9%
Paramount +: 9%

Latest Apple report is good news for MLS officials

The news will certainly make Major League Soccer executives happy. The North American soccer league is currently in the middle of a massive 10-year deal with Apple TV+. MLS matches, however, are exclusively found on a separate Apple streaming service called MLS Season Pass. This latter service is not the same as Apple’s flagship streaming service.

Apple TV+ subscribers do get a a discount on MLS Season Pass, but are not able to watch more than a select few MLS games on the basic service. Apple has become notorious for not releasing specific subscriber figures to MLS Season Pass. Independent reports previously claimed that the streaming service surpassed two million subscribers at the end of 2023.

The latest news regarding the success of Apple TV+ does not necessarily mean that MLS Season Pass has grabbed more subscribers. Nevertheless, it does potentially open the league up to new viewers. Advertisements for MLS are obviously found quite regularly across Apple TV+. Assuming these promotions work, MLS Season Pass could certainly benefit.

Photo credit: IMAGO / MiS