Eagle Alpha claims demand for Apple TV+ is ‘lagging’

Sources close to Apple” tell Variety that Apple TV+ has drawn millions of users who are spending on average more than an hour on the new streaming service. However, Eagle Alpha’s latest report on the intensifying streaming wars claims that Disney+ — which launches today — has gained some traction among consumers as Apple TV+ lags and none of the new challengers to Netflix have yet to make significant inroads.

“It’s too early to predict how Disney+ and other new streaming challengers to Netflix will fare in the coming months, but early indications suggest legacy players, including Hulu, maybe in a stronger position than previously thought,” says Dean Barr, Eagle Alpha’s head of Bespoke Projects. “Our research also suggests that Apple TV Plus is struggling to gain traction.”

Eagle Alpha surveyed five million tweets from Twitter users in North America, excluding retweets, that mentioned Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV Plus, Hulu or Roku, to update its ongoing analysis of streaming video providers. Social media commentary volume is a reliable proxy for consumer preferences and end demand.

Netflix continues to dominate share of voice on Twitter with about a 70% share, though it has dropped about 10 percentage points since mid-year as Disney+ (~ 6%) gained some traction, according to the report. But Disney still lags Hulu (~14%) and Roku (~7%) as Apple TV Plus (~1%) brings up the rear in fifth place out of five, according to Barr.

Meanwhile, total mentions of all streaming players, including HBO, Amazon and Showtime are up nearly 50% since December 2018. Enthusiasm for Roku and Disney+ is slightly stronger than for Hulu and Netflix but all of them outstrip Apple TV Plus, according to Barr.

Eagle Alpha says the cost of Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV Plus and Roku doesn’t feature prominently in conversation about these streaming providers. Less than 0.13% of all conversations mentioning Netflix reference its price. The numbers are even lower for Disney+, Apple TV Plus and Hulu at less than 0.05% each.

Eagle Alpha aggregator of alternative data globally with access to more than 1,000 datasets and solutions for corporations, private equity funds and buyside firms.