Apple Says It Has ‘Significantly More’ Than 45 Million Apple TV Subscribers – BGR

Apple is notoriously tight-lipped when it comes to releasing sales and subscriber data. How many iPhones did the company sell last year? It won’t say. How many Apple Music subscribers are there? We can only guess. But every once in a while, Apple will give us a small nugget of information that sheds a little bit of light on the vibrancy of its product line and services business.

As a prime example, Apple has never officially said how many paid Apple TV subscribers it has. Instead, the company is traditionally coy when it comes to specific data points about its subscription TV service. Even information one would assume Apple would want to brag about is shrouded in mystery. So, while the company might say that a certain show is the “most watched” in Apple TV history, it won’t disclose how many viewers actually watched it. As a quick aside, note that Apple as of this week rebranded Apple TV+ to Apple TV.

In light of the above, hard data on the number of Apple TV subscribers has long been an unknown. Indeed, the only credible report we’ve seen on Apple TV subscriber data came from a March 2025 report which claimed that Apple TV boasts 45 million subscribers. Now comes word from Apple executive Eddy Cue that the actual figure is, in fact, much higher.

During an interview with Matt Belloni on “The Town,” the topic of streaming and Apple TV came up. When the 45 million subscribe figure was referenced, Cue said that the actual number is “significantly more than that.” Predictably, he didn’t provide any more details.  Still, if we’re to take Cue at his word, it seems that Apple TV is doing quite well. As a point of comparison, it’s estimated that Hulu currently boasts 55 million paid subscribers. The total number of paying Peacock subscribers, meanwhile, is believed to be in the 41 million range.

All told, Apple TV seems to be thriving in an immensely crowded field of competitors. The fact that Apple TV was able to make inroads and draw away eyeballs from the likes of Netflix, HBO, and others is impressive. The feat is all the more impressive when you consider that Apple is doing it solely with original content. In stark contrast to other streaming services, Apple isn’t building up a library of existing third-party content to attract viewers. This puts a lot of pressure on Apple to deliver a steady stream of original content, and also exposes Apple to industry dynamics like the 2023 writers’ strike, which lasted for months.

“It’s a lot harder than it looks,” Cue said. “I didn’t forecast being out of production for a year and a half, I didn’t forecast a nine-month strike from that standpoint, so we were a little further behind than where I’d like to be. But where we are today is great.”

One reason why Apple TV has succeeded is because Apple isn’t interested in fattening up its content library with junk. On the contrary, the company carefully curates its offerings and aims to only deliver best-in-class programming. And while I have seen a few Apple TV duds, there are enough winners in the mix to make an Apple TV subscription worth it, but you don’t have to take our word for it.

In 2024 alone, Apple TV shows won 10 Primetime Emmy Awards. “Ted Lasso” and “Severance”, meanwhile, have won so many awards it’s become tough to keep track. If Apple keeps it up, it stands to reason that Apple TV will continue amassing awards and subscribers in the process. All the while, revenue from Apple TV continues to grow, especially given that the cost of a subscription jumped from $9.99 to $12.99 this past August. It’s certainly pricier than the original Apple TV subscription price of $4.99, but given the content available today, it’s not unreasonable.