“I don’t think it’s because it’s an American show. I think it’s because it’s on the Apple platform, and not many people have it,” Roberts said, before surprisingly adding, “The U.K. absolutely laps up a good American comedy.” And here we thought the transatlantic comedy pipeline only ran from East to West.
Per ShareAmerica, the U.S. Bureau of International Information Programs’ social sharing platform, soccer is currently the fourth most popular sport in America behind (real) football, basketball and baseball. A 2019 Gallup poll reported that 31 percent of Americans consider themselves fans of professional soccer — even if only half of them watch it on TV, that means that a larger percentage of Americans watch soccer than Brits even have Apple TV+ subscriptions.
The popularity of Ted Lasso in America isn’t simply coinciding with the rise of American soccer fans — Apple TV+ cleary latched onto a growing trend with a serendipitously splendid series that offers soccer fans and soccer ignorers alike some relief from the disenchantment and callousness of our modern media landscape. U.K. viewers, on the other hand, can’t be bothered to buy yet another subscription streaming service regardless of which quaint little London town gets featured in its flagship show.
Maybe if Apple branded its streaming platform with a more U.K.-oriented name it would help it take off across the pond — Apple Telly Proper might perk up some English ears.