Apple TV+ is one of the latest streaming services to hit the market – along with The Walt Disney Company’s Disney+, which released the same month – but beyond its content, between the critics and users, the Apple-created service is the most polarizing one out right now. But why is that? Apple TV+ launched in November 2019 with several high profile TV shows led by some of the most talked-about actors, directors, and producers in Hollywood, not to mention a low entry price to entice subscribers.
Releasing through the Apple TV app (which is planned to be made available on non-Apple devices sometime in the future), Apple TV+ launched with shows like See, For All Mankind, and The Morning Show, all of which are returning for second seasons. Other series from Steven Spielberg, Dana Fox, and Dara Resnik are on the way, and with reports suggesting that Apple will spend over $4 billion on original content over the next few years, it seems like the tech company doesn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon. But how have these shows fared so far?
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According to Flixed, of all streaming services, Apple TV+ is the most polarizing with regards to the disparity in reviews and scores from critics and users. There’s currently an 18% gap between critic and audience scores for Apple TV+ shows; audiences tend to score higher, coming in at 87%, whereas critics are averaging around 69%. Comparatively, HBO (not HBO Max, which is scheduled to release later this year) is the second most polarizing with an 8% gap between critics and audiences, though critics tend to rate shows higher than viewers. HBO gets 85% with critics and 77% with audiences.
After HBO is Amazon Prime Video, which has a 6% disparity (75% for critics and 81% for audiences), then Disney+ and Netflix both at 3% (81% critic scores and 78% audience scores for Disney+; Netflix averages 76% with critics and 73% with viewers). Hulu comes in last with the lowest gap of only 2%, with critics giving Hulu shows an average score of 82% and audiences giving them 80%. It’s worth noting that all of these scores were taken from Rotten Tomatoes and were based on shows released in 2019.
Given that Apple TV+ and Disney+ released at the tail-end of 2019 and only had a handful of shows come out – Disney+ notably had The Mandalorian lead the service through its first few months – perhaps 2020’s numbers will show how each streaming platform is faring with consumers on a wide scale. After all, Disney+ still hasn’t rolled out in the vast majority of countries internationally while Apple TV+ was available almost worldwide from the very beginning.
