During its nearly six years on the market, Apple TV+ has been referred to by some as “the new HBO.” But this year might be when Apple has truly started to prove that claim. Here’s why.
Emmy nominations show Apple TV+ ahead in quality, while HBO boasts higher quantity
Whatever your opinion of Apple TV+, it’s hard to dispute that 2025 has been an especially good year for the streamer.
Apple TV+ has achieved new levels of both mainstream awareness and critical success. It’s putting out consistently better content than before, and more people are watching.
That’s why earlier this year I wrote that the streamer was truly earning its “new HBO” reputation.
And now, recent analysis of this year’s Emmy nominations supports the claim.
Joe Reid writes at Vulture:
Apple is the only network or platform with multiple nominees in both Comedy Series (The Studio and Shrinking) and Drama Series (Severance and Slow Horses) […] HBO remains the gold standard in prestige television…but Apple is more than keeping pace in the areas that get the most attention. For the major acting categories (lead and supporting across comedy, drama, and limited series), Apple landed 22 nominations to HBO’s 17.
Despite HBO and Netflix both scoring more nominations than Apple TV+ overall, Apple is clearly finding success with its “quality over quantity” strategy.
Severance and The Studio favored to win two biggest awards
As Reid spotlights, Severance and The Studio in particular are set up for huge success.
Severance scored 27 Emmy nominations, the most for any TV show this year from any studio.
The Studio had 23 nominations, the most for any comedy this year.
Both shows are favored to win in the two biggest categories: Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Comedy Series.
The last time that happened? HBO did it almost a decade ago.
With The Studio and Severance leading the nomination pack in comedy and drama, voters will be all the more emboldened to cast their winning votes for those shows and their respective performers…And that’s where the real boost could come — if Apple can pull off twin Drama and Comedy Series wins, something no network or platform has done since 2017 (the second of back-to-back years when HBO triumphed with Veep and Game of Thrones) and no non-HBO network or platform has accomplished since NBC won with Friends and The West Wing in 2002.
It’s not as though HBO is having a bad year. It actually scored a huge nomination haul, more than ever before.
But unlike Apple, those nominations aren’t expected to translate into a lot of wins in the categories that matter most.
The abundance of HBO nominations is a noteworthy accomplishment. But if Apple TV+ pulls off the big wins it’s expected to, it would be the latest sign of beating HBO at its own game: quality over quantity.
Apple TV+ is available for $9.99 per month and features hit TV shows and movies like Ted Lasso, Severance, The Morning Show, Silo, and Shrinking.
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