Alternative-history fans can get a Space Race fix from Apple at no charge, thanks to Apple TV+ offering the first season of For All Mankind for free.
The science-fiction drama from Ronald D. Moore imagines a world in which the Soviet Union lands the first man on the moon, forcing the United States to respond by escalating its own civilian and military space efforts. For All Mankind was one of the launch titles on Apple TV+ at its November 2019 debut; its third season kicked off Friday.
This freebie follows a series of aggressive promotions by Apple for its $4.99/month service, starting with it giving a free year of service with the purchase of a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac. In August of 2021, it arranged another first-year free offer through T-Mobile for subscribers to its Magenta and Magenta Max plans as well as some legacy Sprint unlimited-data plans.
At the same Apple has invested heavily in Apple TV+, adding such live content as Friday-night baseball games to its growing library of on-demand shows and movies. March 27, its feature film CODA won the first-ever streaming Best Picture Oscar.
“Content is the dominant driver of viewership and subscriptions among streaming services today,” analyst Brett Sappington, a vice president with the market-research firm Interpret, wrote in an email, adding that Apple’s rivals have “deep pockets, deep libraries of originals, or both.”
Sappington commented that this promotion offers an upside beyond getting the attention of fans of what-if history who had not checked out the series before: “Offering free access to one of your strong titles gives users a taste of your content quality, but also encourages them to download the Apple TV app — a big step in becoming a service they would consider subscribing to.”
Apple hasn’t said how well it has been able to convert free viewers into paying subscribers. But on its April 28 earnings call CFO Luca Maestri said video revenues had hit record highs in the quarter ending March 26. Overall services revenue — including iCloud and the App Store as well as AppleCare subscriptions — hit $19.8 billion in the quarter, up 17% from the year-ago quarter.