Commentary

Apple TV+ Recovers From Price Hike-Linked Churn, Netflix Still Best

Streaming platforms price hikes actually are not always followed by subscriber cancellation. Apple TV+ witnessed just such one event in late 2023/early 2024.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, it raised pricing to $9.99 (from $6.99). All that pushed its "churn" rate -- the rate at which existing subscribers drop the service -- initially just over 10.2% (from 6.0% in the third quarter), according to Parrot Analytics.

But quickly after that moment, and into last year, it sank back to nearly the same pre-price hike level -- 6.8% in the second quarter of 2024.

After that, the bigger global picture for Apple TV+ improved. Over a period of four quarters ending in the third quarter of 2024 (versus the prior-year period), overall subscriber revenue jumped 50.2%. At the same time, global subscribers grew 10%.

Peacock had a similar lift after a July 2024 price hike -- up 49.5% in the third quarter. Parrot said at the time of the price hike that its churn rate was 7.5% (up from 5.6% in the first quarter 2023). Things got a bit better in the third quarter, moving to 7.0%.

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The latest reading of third-quarter churn rates for all streamers shows Paramount+ is the highest among the big streamers, at around 7.8%. The lowest continues to be Netflix, at approximately 2.1%.

The next-best churn rate was for Hulu, at 3.5%, followed by Disney+ at 5.1% and Max, Apple TV+ and Prime Video, each at 6%.

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