A new report says Apple TV+ has the highest-rated content of any streaming service

In 2021, 2022, and again in 2024, Apple TV+ has been found to have the highest average IMDb score out of all streaming services, according to a study from Self Financial that reviews which streaming services offer the best content for your money. From the report:

• AppleTV+ has the highest average IMDb score for its streaming library (7.01/10), but has the smallest library of content.
• Apple TV+ has the lowest amount of family-friendly content but has the highest-rated age-appropriate shows and movies (7.3/10) with Max the second-highest-rated (6.9/10), Disney+’s family-friendly content scored just 6.6/10 on IMDb.
• Apple TV+ has 119 pieces of 4K content, just behind Max (HBO) with 130, however Apple’s 4K content is rated 7.15/10 higher than Max’s 7.11.
• When it came to genres, Apple TV+ has the highest-rated ‘action & adventure’ content (7/10), animation (7.3/10), biography (7.4/10), comedy (7/10), documentary (7.4), drama (7.1/10), and romance (6.9/10).

With minimum monthly costs ranging from US$5.99 for Paramount+ to $9.99 for AppleTV+, Self Financial wanted to find out what value viewers are truly getting when they subscribe to these services. 

The research analyzed how many TV shows and movies per dollar a viewer is receiving, which service has the best 4K offering, which provider is best per genre, and how this has changed from 2021 and 2022’s figures when the study was last run. 

Quantity on streaming platform

In the analysis, Prime Video had the most content with 14,511 items analyzed, with the nearest competitor, Netflix offering less than half (6643) for the base subscription cost. 

While Apple TV+ does not currently have a lot of content in its subscription fee, offering just 277 titles for the $9.99 monthly fee, it did have the highest overall quality out of any streaming service analyzed. 

The study found that Apple TV+ had an average IMDb audience rating score of 7.18/10, followed by Max’s 6.91, and Disney+’s 6.62/10. Apple TV+ moved from an average of 7.08/10 score in 2022 where it was also the highest-rated platform on the market.

In terms of their libraries of content, Apple TV+ has the highest percentage of “Good” and “Excellent” content at over 90% but has the smallest offering at just 1271 titles. Max offers the second-highest quantity of titles and the second-highest percentage of high-quality content behind Apple TV+ (83.5%) followed by Disney+ (76.2%). 

The Disney+ and Hulu content merger is expected to reduce overall quality while offering a much larger library, however.. 

4K Content 

Netflix was found to be the best platform for the number of 4K content available (696), followed by Prime Video (368), and Disney+ (141). When Hulu officially joins Disney+ that would be the third highest (228). Apple TV+ offers only 119 4K pieces of content behind Max’s 130. 

Apple TV+ had the second-highest IMDb rating for its 4K content (7.15) just behind Disney+ (7.2).

Child-friendly content

In terms of quality, Apple TV+ offers the highest-rated average content suitable for children aged 7 and under at 7.3/10, beating Disney+, but only offers 45 titles. 

When it came to quantity, Prime Video offered the most (1,302 titles) averaging 6.2/10, followed by the merged library of Hulu and Disney+ (1083) rated 6.6/10. Netflix came in third with 677 family-friendly titles rated 6.7/10.

Genre analysis

Self Financial also analyzed the data of shows and movies per genre per platform to see which platform performed best in certain categories. 

Apple TV+ had the highest-rated content in the following genres: action and adventure (7), animation (7.3), biography (7.4), comedy (7), documentary (7.4), drama (7.1), family (6.8), and romance (6.9). 

With acclaimed comedy/drama shows like Ted Lasso (8.8), and Trying (8) the streamer has lots to choose from. Documentaries like Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues (7.4) and Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry (7.7) the platform is home to a diverse range of content that maintains an unprecedented high quality. 

Apple TV+ also technically had the highest-rated content in other genres such as “Based on True Story” (7.6) and LGBTQ+ (8). However, the platform only had fewer than 15 titles in each genre.

To view the full findings of the study go to https://www.self.inc/info/which-tv-streaming-service-best-value-for-money/.

About Apple TV+

Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $9.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. 

For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free. For more information, visit apple.com/tvpr and see the full list