According to numerous reports from the past few years, Apple has been secretly tinkering away on a television service
Apple plans to take on the Netflixes of this world with its own streaming service.
According to numerous reports from the past few years, Apple has been tinkering away on a television service. It wants this upcoming service to showcase its original TV shows, much like Netflix does with its Netflix Originals, while also allowing subscriptions to other content all within the same Apple service.
Here is the latest news on its progress. AppleApple TV service launch date25 March 2019 event bookedSuspected it might be a US only launch
Apple has invited the media to an event to be held on 25 March 2019. The invitation is clearly for a TV-related event, with the tagline reading “it’s showtime”.
There has long been rumours that Apple would be hosting this event with a number of high-profile guests from Hollywood, who will likely take to the stage to talk about their projects and programmes that will be appearing on the new service.
Exactly when the Apple TV service will go live hasn’t yet been confirmed. It also hasn’t been confirmed where the service will be launching – we suspect it might be US-only to begin with. Often content providers find that launching in multiple-regions is difficult because of the deals needed for each different territory – although it’s ultimately expected to be a global service. How much will Apple’s TV streaming service cost?
According to The Information and CNBC, Apple’s original content will be made available for free to Apple device owners. The service might also be bundled with an Apple Music subscription and a digital magazine and news subscription. Bloomberg, however, claimed that the shows and movies either purchased or funded by Apple won’t be available for free, contrary to past reporting.
Also, Apple is reportedly requesting a 30 per cent slice from cable providers on every subscription that comes from its TV service. That means customers will need to subscribe (and pay extra) to add-on services like Starz, Showtime, and Viacom if they want to watch their content. What’s the story so far? Cable bundle ambitions
Apple has been struggling for many years – time and time again – to revamp the TV-watching experience, trying to ink deals with cable companies and movie studios. The first reports claimed Apple wanted to provide a cable bundle, or a set of standalone channel packages, for around $30 to $40 per month. It was reportedly difficult to negotiate with, and ultimately, its lofty goals stalled.
With the service set to be announced in March 2019, however, some progress has been made.
For the new service, however, CNBC has claimed that some cable content providers are still not participating. HBO may not be participating due to disagreements over data sharing and revenue splits and Hulu isn’t expected to participate, either. Netflix has gone as far as confirming that it’s going to be part of Apple’s new service.
Starz, Showtime, and Viacom – smaller networks without their own streaming platforms – are all expected to made available through Apple’s service. That provides them with wide distribution for programming, but Apple will likely take a heavy cut of subscription revenue, as much as 30 per cent, as is the case with the App Store. Following Netflix’s footsteps
More recently, Apple shifted its focus to the tvOS App Store, so that the film and TV industry could directly offer their own services to customers via apps, though Apple retained control of the watching experience and overall user interface. It has also begun to follow in Netflix’s footsteps by pursuing original content, with over a dozen shows in the works.
The company is reportedly developing high-caliber shows like Westworld, investing over $1 billion throughout 2017 and 2018. Its first original television show, Planet of the Apps, which debuted in June 2017, features a Shark Tank-style format, pairing app developers with potential investors. Its second show, Carpool Karaoke: The Series, is based on the popular segment from The Late Show With James Corden. Testing the waters with Apple Music
Oddly, both of Apple’s first shows premiered via Apple Music and are used to promote the music service. Though, in May 2018, Apple made one of the shows available for free through the TV app.’Completely all in’
To head up its deep push into original content, Apple hired former Sony Pictures TV executives Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, who helped produce shows like Better Call Saul. Former Amazon Studios executive Morgan Wandell also joined Apple’s team. They all report directly to Apple iTunes chief Eddy Cue, who said in February 2018 that Apple is “completely all in” on original content and that “money isn’t an issue”.
