Apple Plans Original Video Expansion, Courts Veteran Producers
Apple is looking to create original video programs for online distribution, but the goal isn't a new skinny bundle or subscription video on-demand (SVOD) service. Instead, Apple will make the shows available exclusively to Apple Music subscribers as a way to differentiate the music service.
Apple Music currently has around 20 million subscribers, well behind Spotify's 40 million.
The news comes from a report in today's Wall Street Journal, which says Apple is in talks with veteran producers to create original TV shows and movies. No deals have been signed at this time.
This isn't Apple's first push into original video, as it won a bidding war for James Corden's Carpool Karaoke in July. It will license 16 episodes of the show, which will be executive produced by Corden, but not hosted by him. The show will add a travelogue element, with celebrity guests bringing the host to places that are important to them. Apple is also working with Will.i.am on a reality competition series called Planet of the Apps that will debut this year, as will a series based on the life of Dr. Dre.
The WSJ report set off a flurry of headlines this morning, but no matter what Vanity Fair says, Netflix isn't declaring war on Netflix and Amazon.
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