This month Apple TV+ is having its first birthday. Launching on the 1st of November with only 9 things to watch on its launch month it was clearly going to have a rocky start but now one year on I’m taking a look at how it’s first year has been.
How did the Initial programming fair?
As I mentioned above on its launch there was only 9 new original Apple programs coming to the service. One of these was the morning show. The morning show was a hit in my opinion with many people liking the program as well it received 21 awards nominations and winning 5. [1]
The morning show was due to be having its second season out around now however filming for the show was paused in March and only resumed a month ago. For me there wasn’t much else to watch from the launch programs. For all mankind was popular but wasn’t really my sort of thing so I didn’t even bother trying. Something I did try to watch however was See. I watched 2 episodes of See but couldn’t really get into it.
When Apple TV+ launched last year, they were giving away a one-year free trial to the service when you bought an iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac. This is quite a big offer and I’m sure a lot of people would have tried the service out; the real question is doing they like what they saw, and will they stay subscribed when the trial is over. If you cancel the trial early you lose access to it straight away.
For many people the trial would be coming to an end because it’s been a year since the launch BUT Apple actually emailed everyone on the trial a month ago to say that the trial has been extended till the end of February next year. Whilst they didn’t actually say why they extended the trial it is very likely because they couldn’t get all the programming out that they wanted too because of COVID.
What was the free year like?
In the free year we saw an array of new Apple originals come to TV+ one of the most popular was “Defending Jacob”. Defending Jacob was released April this year. The story was all about a family who was dealing with the accusation that there son maybe a murderer. I personally really enjoyed this show which is a one-off series based on the original novel by William Landays.
I don’t want to spoil too much of the show, so I won’t talk about any further. An interesting report by MacRumors[2] shows that TV+ demand is increasing and that Defending Jacob is one of the most popular ones.
Another show that was released in the free year which I really liked was “Central park” this was an animated musical sitcom made by the same people as “Bobs burgers”. This program is like the complete opposite of Defending Jacob with its witty humour and 4 musical numbers in each episode. So far only season 1 is released with 10 episodes but I know they have plans to make season 2.
A show that I haven’t watched yet but is very popular viewers who already have TV+ and a show that is defiantly bringing new users to the service was released in August 2020. That show is “Ted Lasso”. An American sitcom all about character who goes to England to coach a football team despite knowing nothing about Football at all.
Ted Lasso was so popular amongst subscribers that Apple have already signed It for another two seasons.[3]
When I look at these three shows on popular TV & Film review site Rotten Tomatoes Central park has the highest scoring score of 92%, Ted Lasso comes close second with 88% meanwhile Defending Jacob gets a score of 73%.[4]
What’s the next year going to be like?
This is a good question, Recently Disney+ announced that in the services first year its already got 73 million paid subscribers.[5] This is an amazing achievement for a service of its age. It’s very likely got that popular because of its massive back catalogue. Something Apple TV+ doesn’t have. Unfortunately, Apple do not tell us how many people are subscribed to its service and I very much doubt it’s that much, but I would love to know.
There have been many more new shows and films added to service in fact it’s gone from 9 things to watch to 44 things to watch in one year. The next year will see even more programs and films join the service as well as new seasons to shows like See, The Morning show and the very popular Servant there’s going to be more to watch then ever and unlike a year ago you aren’t confined to watching on your Apple devices. Now a lot of smart TVs come with Apple TV app built in and even Xbox and PlayStation consoles can now download the Apple TV app allowing you to not only watch TV+ programs but also things you’ve bought on the iTunes store.
Will I stay subscribed?
Another good question and the reason why it’s a good question is because I think now a lot of people will now subscribe to TV+ BUT not via the normal price of £4.99 per month. Apple has now released a special bundle for £14.99 per month which comes with Apple Music, TV+, Arcade & 50GB iCloud storage or for £19.99 per month for sharing with 5 family members and 200GB iCloud storage.
If it wasn’t for this bundle, I think next year TV+ would be a lot less value and £14.99 per month for 4 services is good value and your saving £5.77 per month. I’ve already signed up to the Personal Apple One subscription so yes I will stay subscribed.
Join me in celebrating Apple TV+ first birthday on Twitter here www.twitter.com/kylewilkinson46 Let me know your thoughts on weather you’ll stay subscribed or what programs you’ve enjoyed over the year.
Thanks for reading
Kyle Wilkinson
References:
[1] – Taken from Wikipedia here on 14/11/2020 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Morning_Show_(American_TV_series)#Awards_and_nominations
[2] – Read the report from MacRumors here: https://www.macrumors.com/2020/11/10/demand-for-apple-tv-shows-increasing/
[3] – Apple TV+ Press https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2020/10/apples-global-hit-comedy-ted-lasso-lands-early-season-three-renewal/
[4] – Read about Rotten Tomato’s scores and how they work below, Taken from the site on 17.11.20. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/about#whatisthetomatometer
[5] – The Walt Disney Company News - https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/the-walt-disney-company-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-earnings-for-fiscal-2020/
[6] – All images are from Apples Newsroom site www.apple.com/newsroom I do not own any of the images all rights go to Apple Inc.
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