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Movies Television Apple Entertainment

Apple TV+ Widens Free Access as Disney+ Passes 50 Million Subscribers (venturebeat.com) 39

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
An anonymous reader shares a story: Ahead of last November's launch of the Apple TV+ video streaming service, Apple seemed to be doing nearly everything it could to widen the base of early viewers -- it gave away a free year of service with any newly purchased iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, or Apple TV, then added free access to student Apple Music subscriptions, collectively guaranteeing itself millions of (unpaid) users. But that apparently wasn't enough: Starting today, the company will offer free access to seven complete TV+ series to almost any person with an Apple ID.

Apple's video strategy has continued to stand in stark contrast to Disney's, though both companies launched paid streaming services last year. Disney+ offers a mere seven-day free trial before charging $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year for access to a large catalog of new original and historic Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic content, plus The Simpsons. This week, Disney+ surpassed 50 million subscribers across only a dozen countries, and it has recently rewarded quarantined fans by providing early access to its latest animated films, including Frozen II and Onward.
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Apple TV+ Widens Free Access as Disney+ Passes 50 Million Subscribers More

Apple TV+ Widens Free Access as Disney+ Passes 50 Million Subscribers

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  • That's my plan anyway.

    Disney has all the right IPs on their service. Apple has none.
    • This topic is very misleading. One of the reasons Disney got Seychelles huge numbers is because it's free for all Verizon users.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jpapon ( 1877296 )
        I don't think they count free subs in the 50 million number. https://variety.com/2020/digit... [variety.com]

        The number is so high because they opened up in Europe.

        • Disney doesn't count those on free trials, but they do count those getting their subscription free from Verizon because Disney's still being paid for it (by Verizon).

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by rtb61 ( 674572 )

            Disney picked up high early numbers but it is going to crash, simply not enough adult content and too many not that good children's cartoons. Amazon streaming has shite controls and show jarring commercials between episodes when you are binging and dont let you readily skip the recap and Apple simply does not have anywhere near enough content. Netflix is still the best streaming service but meh, all on rotation, except disney, simply not enough content to bother with and Amazon only about three months tops

      • This topic is very misleading. One of the reasons Disney got Seychelles huge numbers is because it's free for all Verizon users.

        Their huge numbers is because people actually want and like the service. Lots of children at home.

        When Disney reported their earnings back in February and disclosed they had 26.5 million subscribers, they pointed out that about 20 percent of them came through a distribution partnership with Verizon [cnbc.com], or about 5.3 million.

        "Iger told Julia Boorstin on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Tuesday that “about 20%” of the 26.5 million subscribers came through a distribution partnership with Verizon that offered a free year of Disney+ to some Verizon customers. But there’s no guarantee that customers who got Disney+ through free trials will resubscribe as paying customers once the trial is up."

        They now have over 50 million. I'd say the percentage of subscribers who are getting it free through Verizon is less than 20 percent now, unless Verizon grew their subscribers by the same ra

        • Oops. My bad. I meant they reported 28.6 million subscribers of which 20 percent were from Verizon. So that's about 5.72 million.

        • "Their huge numbers is because people actually want and like the service. Lots of children at home."

          They're at home right now, but not forever, and soon they won't be children anymore.

          • They're at home right now, but not forever, and soon they won't be children anymore.

            They're not going to stop being children overnight, or even a year from now. And when those children grow up, they'll have children of their own.

            There also are many childless adults who subscribe to Disney Plus.

    • We watched “the morning show”, and it was quite good.

    • My model was to go the library once a week and borrow the stuff. Free apart from the fuel and time. But the browsing is much faster and easier.

      • My model was to go the library once a week and borrow the stuff. Free apart from the fuel and time. But the browsing is much faster and easier.

        Aren't all the libraries closed now...?

    • That's my plan anyway.

      Disney has all the right IPs on their service. Apple has none.

      Wrong.

      More correctly stated, Disney has a stranglehold on their Content, most of which should have passed into the Public Domain decades ago, if it weren't specifically due to their lobbying and payoffs to our federal government.

  • Vote for Bernie in 2020. Just write it in. You DON'T HAVE TO VOTE for who the big political machines want you to vote for. You can write in any candidate you want! You are edgy, and different. You can make a difference, and we can get rid of the big political machines once and for all! Nothing says progress like a 85 year old multimillionaire lifetime politician hippie!

  • I have a free year subscription, but as I browsed through it, there wasn't anything that looked interesting. At least with Disney+ you know there will be something fun to watch.

    • I have a free year subscription, but as I browsed through it, there wasn't anything that looked interesting. At least with Disney+ you know there will be something fun to watch.

      Yeah, but how much of the Disney stuff is actually "New"?

    • Was going to post the same thing. I got an AppleTV right before Covid19 hit and I can't find anything that looks good. https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/... [apple.com] This looked interesting, but I need to be in the doc mood.

  • People keep wanting to frame AppleTV+ against Disney+.

    Why? This makes no sense.

    The motivations for the two companies are vastly different. Apple hardly cares if you ever pay for AppleTV+, it exists as a way to attract people to buying devices because it's another aspect you get for free (for a while). Apple can take million years to build up a good catalog of shows, it doesn't matter to them.

    Disney meantime is truly a traditional streaming service, they very much want paying subscribers and are trying t

    • People keep wanting to frame AppleTV+ against Disney+.

      Why?

      Because this is Slashdot: Anything that mentions Apple in the headline is guaranteed Clickbait. Oh, and this has the added bonus that it can be twisted to look like "Apple is so lame; look, they're losing the streaming competition to a Mouse!"

      [rollseyes]

    • But Kendall, they both have “+” in their name!

      I have no interest whatsoever in Apple TV+. I was, however, tempted to sign up for Disney’s offering... but the fact that they’re keeping a rotating list of their titles off the service at any given time made me rethink that. It’s cheaper just to buy or rent anything From Disney that I might want to watch.

      • the fact that theyâ(TM)re keeping a rotating list of their titles off the service at any given time made me rethink that.

        Yes I think Disney is annoying that way.

        However I would still say go for it. If you like Star Wars at all the Mandalorian is great, if you like Disney at all (which seems likely if you were tempted) they have a lot of great Disney related documentaries with behind the scenes stuff. They also have some pretty good original content, and things like animation shorts specific to the se

  • To lure these prospective viewers, Apple is widening access to three adult dramas (For All Mankind, Little America, Servant) and four kid- or teen-friendly shows (Dickinson, Ghostwriter, Helpsters, Snoopy in Space), plus The Elephant Queen documentary.

    • To lure these prospective viewers, Apple is widening access to three adult dramas (For All Mankind, Little America, Servant) and four kid- or teen-friendly shows (Dickinson, Ghostwriter, Helpsters, Snoopy in Space), plus The Elephant Queen documentary.

      I have watched both For All Mankind and Servant, and they are both excellent dramas. Servant has kind of an understated French/European pacing; but the underlying story is quite good. And For All Mankind is a good "what if..." Speculative Fiction story.

      I may check out The Elephant Queen, if only for the cinematography.

  • :sigh: it pains me to "shill" (as I am so totally done with this streaming service ridiculousness), but this is Slashdot - Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet [wikipedia.org], I thought was an incredibly funny satire of PC Games development, right down to the parent company "In Montreal". I am very biased towards the guys from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia", it's true... but I do worry that this show isn't going to be seen because I don't have a single idea who I would know who uses Apple TV. Family, friends, nada.

    • I have to admit that looked like the first AppleTV+ show I really wanted to see. Will have to check that out.

      • I have to admit that looked like the first AppleTV+ show I really wanted to see. Will have to check that out.

        For All Mankind is pretty good, too, I haven't checked out many others, mostly because I have such a glut of material that I am also not watching, from Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV+, and AT&T Now (which includes HBO), and so forth.

        There are only so many hours in the day...

  • I have AppleTV+ due to my iPhone 11 purchase and I enjoyed a few hours of a few shows but on nearly any other traditional streaming service I can scroll through hundreds of offerings. I won't like many of them but when bored I can find something of interest I have never heard of in a genre that appeals to me. Apple TV may slowly grow it's offerings but one new movie or series every month or two isn't enough to keep me subscribing. At this pace I doubt very much it will be available in 5 years. I certai

  • TFS has a link to Venturebeat. The Venturebeat links are all to Venturebeat. Nice! No way to find the Apple link; if there is one. I searched the Apple site and couldn't find any such information there either.

    Does Slashdot ever check these submissions? Or are they just seeking some kickback from the useless sites they do link to?

  • Contents are still weak compared to others. I still can't watch in my non-Apple Mac computers' web browsers with https://tv.apple.com./ [tv.apple.com] My iPhone 6+ (iOS v12.4.6) works with its TV app, but that's annoying.

  • Check and I am not convinced by Disney + and I don't like Apple TV very much I still prefer any other streaming service like Moviepilot.supply that has other types of series and movies here is the description of the site if you still do not convince http://www.expressbusinessdire... [expressbus...ectory.com]

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