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Who will be the MLB鈥檚 new streaming partner? As MLB鈥檚 partnership with ESPN is ending, Apple TV+ could eye a deal to expand its sports catalog.

While Apple TV+ lost money, Services revenue hit $96.2 billion in 2024鈥攕howing Apple鈥檚 broader ecosystem is carrying the weight of its content ambitions.

"Severance" drives record Apple TV+ engagement: The streamer saw a 126% surge in new subscribers, proving the impact of high-quality original content.

Apple TV+ offers free weekend: A blend of traditional tactics and tech strategy aims to boost subscribers ahead of Severance Season 2.

Apple feels the pain of Apple TV+ struggles: Its Q4 revenues missed the mark in some divisions including Services, which includes advertising.

A look at Services: Despite some notable wins like the second season of Apple TV+ show 鈥淪everance鈥� last quarter, Apple鈥檚 Services category missed the mark. The category had previously been a bright spot for growth as product sales slowed, but the revenue miss could suggest Apple can鈥檛 rely on subscriptions and ads to offset potential tariff-related losses.

The chart below measures subscription streaming price increases by tracking how the cheapest ad-free standalone subscription prices have changed for Hulu, Disney+, Max, Netflix, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, and Apple TV+ collectively.

I think the most recent one to join in or launch a tile on Prime Video is Apple TV. So if you're one of these smaller streaming services like Apple TV that's struggling to gain significant subscriber growth, since the market's really saturated, a platform like Prime Video that has this enormous baked-in audience is clearly appealing.

There鈥檚 a lot for marketers to learn about CTV ads, which encompass digitally sold ads showing up on screens through software like streaming services, hardware like smart TVs, streaming devices like Apple TV, or video game consoles. Here are five essential things to know. 1. The CTV advertising market is experiencing substantial growth.

The low-cost live TV service will remain independently available on major platforms like Fire TV, Apple TV, and Roku devices, with its leadership team staying in place. Roku expects the acquisition to strengthen its subscription business and broaden its content offerings with popular linear channels like Hallmark and A&E.

In this analysis, Starz, Discovery+, and Apple TV+ have the most to gain from bundles because their customers have been the most fickle. Bundles drive viewers toward ad tiers. And scale is key to unlocking higher ad revenues for streamers. The expansion of streaming bundles has coincided with more viewers choosing ad tiers.

Apple TV+ is the largest holdout in streaming advertising, and many insiders believe it, too, will eventually offer an ad tier. It is rare for subscription streaming services to not sell advertising. With nearly every service selling inventory, there are a lot more impressions available for purchase. In H1 2024, US CTV ads served by FreeWheel grew 14% YoY.

Most subscription streaming services offer ad-free and ad-supported plans. After Amazon Prime Video introduced its ad plan in January, Apple TV+ became the biggest advertising holdout among streamers. Advertising holdouts have gradually accepted commercial breaks in their programming.

On today's episode, we discuss why CEO Susan Wojcicki is leaving YouTube, the company's top concerns at the moment, and what the future holds. "In Other News," we talk about ads for Apple TV+ and a startup that is attempting to improve ad measurement. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Evelyn Mitchell.

This could lead to a wave of consolidation among CTV providers, with smaller players integrating into larger ones like Amazon Prime or Apple TV, said Dan Larkman, CEO of Keynes Digital. Increasing customer acquisition costs may lead to consolidation of CTV inventory and a rise in performance-driven CTV ads, said Sambit Patnaik, vice president of product management at Yieldmo.

As Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, and Apple TV+ compete for similar rights, Netflix's subscriber base, which we forecast will grow 9.3% next year to reach 759.2 million viewers, makes it an appealing partner for sports leagues trying to reach mass audiences.

As streaming subscription prices increase, viewers are becoming more amendable to ad-supported tiers.

Our latest forecasts for CTV and digital video viewers in Canada show that audiences are now a match for linear TV and exceed it in some age groups.

Major League Soccer has served as its primary channel for advertising on Apple TV+ as the streaming service goes through a turbulent period of executive shuffling on its long-rumored path to an ad-supported subscription tier. The App Store has been a much more consistent ad channel for Apple, which is leaning increasingly on advertising as hardware sales slow down.