45,094 new Apple TV subscribers came from one free episode of Slow Horses.
The Read / Oct 2026
Apple TV · Prime Video
Prime Video brought in 28% more viewers to Apple TV’sSlow Horses.
45,094 new Apple TV subscribers came from one free episode. Season 1, Episode 1 of Slow Horses is free in the Apple TV app and on the Apple TV channel on Prime Video; episode 2 is behind the paywall and not for sale. We followed every US account that pressed play, 1.24M between Sep 23, 2025 and Sep 23, 2026, to a first payment. Season 6 premiered September 16, 2026.
Apple TV app
Apple TV channel
Same free pilot, S1E1, two apps. One Crosswalk ID per account.
Twelve months, by the numbers
Not selling S1E2 is what drives trials.
Who paid
45,094
new paying Apple TV subscribers
1 paid in every 28 free starts
3.6% of the 1.24M accounts that started S1E1 free became new paying subscribers: 45,094, about 1 in 28.
Where it is free
62.9%
62.9% of free S1E1 starts were in the Apple TV app and 17.1% on the Apple TV channel on Prime Video.
Why it works
59.5%
S1E2 is not sold in any store. 59.5% of the 112,413 who tried to buy it started a trial or subscribed.
Where it stalls
142,687
142,687 accounts new to Apple TV saw the price and never paid. 51.2% of them earn under $50,000.
Where to grow
3openings
The “where to watch” search, The Roku Channel listing, and store shoppers are the three biggest openings.
Free start: any account that played Slow Horses S1E1 at no cost. New subscriber: an account paying for Apple TV for the first time. United States, Sep 23, 2025 to Sep 23, 2026.
Where Season 1, Episode 1 was started
1 in 5 free S1E1 starts happened on Prime Video.
75.0% Apple TV app and trial
21.0% Prime Video
Apple TV app, S1E1 free
62.9%
Apple TV 7-day trial, S1E1 watched first
12.1%
Apple TV channel on Prime Video, S1E1 free
17.1%
Apple TV channel trial on Prime Video
3.9%
Full S1E1 on YouTube
4.1%
Prime Video brought 260,784 accounts to the free pilot, 28% on top of the 75.0% that started in the Apple TV app or its trial.
Share of 1,241,829 accounts that started S1E1 free, Sep 23, 2025 to Sep 23, 2026. Green is Prime Video, lavender is the Apple TV app, cream is YouTube. Shares rounded.
From free episode to subscriber
1 in 28 free viewers paid. Most were lost right after the pilot.
One free episode produced 45,094 new paying Apple TV subscribers, 3.6% of everyone who pressed play, and 78.6% of them were still paying when the year closed. The leak comes right after the pilot: of the 509,647 accounts that went looking for S1E2, 72.1% never started a trial.
Each stage is a share of the 1,241,829 accounts that started S1E1 free between Sep 23, 2025 and Sep 23, 2026, with account counts beneath. Still paying is measured at September 23, 2026. Stage widths are scaled so the smallest stages stay readable. Accounts that already had Apple TV are not counted as new.
Looking for Season 1, Episode 2
Most who tried to buy S1E2 took a trial.
112,413accounts
Opened a rent or buy page for S1E2, which is not sold on Amazon, the Apple TV Store, Vudu or Google Play.
45.2%
Started an Apple TV trial
14.3%
Subscribed through the channel on Prime Video
27.3%
Left without watching or subscribing
One in seven store shoppers, 16,075 accounts, became Apple TV subscribers without ever opening the Apple TV app. The other 13.2% went back to YouTube or free apps. Keeping S1E2 off the shelf turned 59.5% of would-be buyers into trials or subscriptions.
Where it stalls
142,687 new accounts saw the price and never paid.
142,687
Accounts new to Apple TV reached the price page and did not pay.
51.2%
Of them earn under $50,000 a year.
Price is the wall for half of the people the free episode wins over. Apple TV was $12.99 a month through Aug 27, 2026 and $14.99 from Aug 28.
Where to grow
Three openings can win more subscribers.
01
The “where to watch” search.
24.2% of free starts began with a Google “where to watch” or “watch free” search, and 63.5% of new subscribers ran one along the way. Owning those results keeps unofficial streaming sites from showing up first.
02
The Roku Channel listing.
163,647 accounts played the free “Season 1” tile on The Roku Channel. It is a 2m 36s trailer, and 34.5% left The Roku Channel after it. 12.7% of new subscribers passed through that listing on the way to a trial.
03
Store shoppers.
112,413 accounts looked for S1E2, which is not for sale, and 27.3% left without watching or subscribing. A trial offer reaches them. A rental ad sends them back to the same dead end.
What Crosswalk adds
Five things a channel report does not show at any tier.
Amazon reports a channel partner’s own viewing and subscriptions by episode. It does not report any of the following, so Crosswalk is the only source.
Crosswalk shows
Amazon report
✓
Who the viewer is.
Age, gender, household, income, interests and brands, indexed to US gen pop (Profile IQ). That is how we know 51.2% of the 142,687 who stalled at the price earn under $50,000.
✕
Amazon supplies no demographics.
✓
What else they watch.
The same audience across every platform, including competitors and Prime Video’s own catalog. That is how we see the 13.2% of store shoppers who went back to YouTube or free apps.
✕
Amazon shows a partner its own channel only.
✓
Market context.
How the title or channel ranks against other titles, channels and franchises.
✕
Amazon has no cross‑partner benchmark.
✓
Platform-level First View.
Whether the Slow Horses pilot was the first thing an account ever watched on Prime Video, plus franchise acquisition and retention comparisons.
✕
Amazon stops at the channel.
✓
Portable audiences.
Segments built from observed viewing that can be used for planning and activation anywhere.
✕
Amazon’s encrypted ID never leaves Amazon.
The full read
See who watches your show in somebody else’s app.
Apple TV, Prime Video, Roku, YouTube and Netflix, resolved to one unique ID per account and read as one journey. Observed and consented. No surveys, no recall.
