Apple TV+ might not get a lot of attention during the smartphone giant’s quarterly earnings, but a brief mention by CFO Luca Maestri noted it was a record March quarter for video revenues in its services segment, though didn't elaborate further.
Video falls under its larger services business which set an all-time revenue record in Apple’s fiscal 2022 second quarter, ended March 26. Services reached $19.8 billion in the period, up 17%, and included record revenue across the App Store, Music, Cloud Services and Apple Care, as well as “March quarter records for video, advertising and payment services.”
“Our installed base has continued to grow, reaching an all-time high across each geographic segment and major product category,” Maestri continued. Apple is also seeing increased customer engagement, including accounts with transacting accounts, paid accounts and accounts with paid subscriptions reaching all-time highs across geographic segments.
Apple didn’t break down revenue or customer specifics for its video product.
Apple CEO Tim Cook on Thursday's earnings called out Apple TV+’s “CODA” for winning the Academy Award for Best Picture this year, a first for a streaming service to win the category.
In just over two years, Apple TV+ shows and movies have earned over 240 awards and 960 nominations, he noted, pointing to Apple originals like “Severance,” “WeCrashed,” and “Pachinko.”
“We're also winning over sports fans with Friday Night Baseball, which debuted earlier this month and They Call Me Magic, a four-part documentary that premiered last week tracing the life of the iconic Magic Johnson,” Cook said.
Apple TV+ scored a deal with Major League Baseball in March to stream a weekly doubleheader of live “Friday Night Baseball” games, the first of which kicked off earlier this month (although not without some technical video glitches and some grumbling about on-air staffing choices).
More sports could be in Apple TV+ future, as while not yet confirmed, Puck’s Matthew Belloni earlier this month reported sources as saying the company had scored rights to NFL’s Sunday Ticket package but was still keeping it under wraps.
In a recent column for Fierce Video, Alan Wolk, co-founder and lead analyst at TV[R]EV, said getting the NFL win would make Apple a key destination for sports on streaming (with an MLB deal already in place),give viewers a reason to continue subscribing to Apple TV+, and give Apple a chance to build out its growing ad business.
“Going after sports was a very smart move as sports fans are loyal viewers and if, as I suspect, the ultimate goal of Apple TV+ is to be a marketing tool, then this will help sell iPhones, Macbooks and Apple watches to this generally affluent audience,” wrote Wolk.