Apple May Create Subscription Service Bundle That Includes Original TV Content, Apple Music and News

[MacRumors]

Apple may be planning to develop a single subscription service that would offer customers access to its original TV shows, Apple Music, and digital magazines, according to sources with knowledge of the company's plans that spoke to The Information.

Apple has ordered multiple television shows, ranging from comedies to dramas, but there has been no clear word on how these shows would be distributed.

Its first original shows, "Planet of the Apps" and "Carpool Karaoke: The Series" debuted in Apple Music as a perk for Apple Music subscribers, but that would not likely be sustainable for the more than a dozen shows that are in development, so it makes sense that a wider TV offering is in the works.

According to The Information, Apple will begin by launching a digital news subscription service next year, which will combine the Apple News app with magazine subscription service Texture, which Apple purchased back in March. Bloomberg in April also said that Apple was working on such a service.

Texture offers subscribers unlimited access to more than 200 digital magazines for $9.99 per month, with titles that include People, Better Homes and Gardens, Time, Forbes, Condé Nast Traveler, Allure, Billboard, Town & Country, ELLE, National Geographic, Rolling Stone, Vogue, and more.

Apple eventually plans to bundle the digital news subscription service with both Apple Music and the video content that is in the works, but it is not known when Apple will provide the new subscription offering, nor what it will be priced at.

Apple is said to be planning to continue to offer each of the services on a standalone basis, suggesting a standalone TV service as well, and discussions are still underway about what its subscription services will look like, so a bundle might not ultimately come to fruition.

It isn't clear if Apple would roll out some of its original programming for free initially and then bundle it with the other services, the people said. The discussions at Apple are still ongoing about what the subscription service ultimately will look like and could change, they said.

Prior rumors have suggested that the first of Apple's television shows will launch sometime between March 2019 and the summer of 2019, which would mean a TV subscription service would likely come out around that time.

Apple has previously attempted to build a television subscription service that offers shows and movies from third-party content providers, but it was never able to establish the deals necessary to make that happen. With its own slate of original TV shows, though, Apple does not need to rely on deals with content producers to roll out a streaming TV service.

Article Link: Apple May Create Subscription Service Bundle That Includes Original TV Content, Apple Music and News

 

[farewelwilliams]

this makes sense. one subscription for apple music, TV, and magazines would draw customers from Spotify/Netflix/Hulu/Amazon users. the last thing that they're missing is all-you-can-eat audiobooks/books

i think when Apple said their services revenue are going to double by 2020, it means that this service is going to launch pretty soon.

 

[KPandian1]

Will the lack of Net Neutrality kill this startup company, prevent it from growing among the existing giants!

 

[Art Mark]

Interesting ideas. I see no reason for another 'rerun' service aka Prime or Netflix. (both do produce original material but in smaller amounts then the catalog of old material they carry) We don't need more access to old shows. But pricing something with only a few original titles, not sure how you do that. We cut cable years ago and have several streaming services. I can't see adding another one JUST for like content, or for only 1 or 2 shows. Maybe packaged with Apple Music and News you get a content service, but at what price point? And of course Disney enters the streaming service chaos in the next 12 months.

 

[EdT]

I'm not saying I think their shows are a waste of time but I don't see anything listed that I think is worth $5/month and it will probably cost more than that. Netflix has a broad range of shows, Amazon Prime we get because we live in the country and the free shipping eventually pays for the Prime service, and the rest of the subscription stations seem good when we watch at a friends house but when we ask how often they watch the channel its once or twice a week at most. Not worth it.

 

[Art Mark]

Will the lack of Net Neutrality kill this startup company, prevent it from growing among the existing giants!

Eventually no new services will be able to get out there as consolidation, vertical consolidation, means the large companies will be guarding against anything new that interrupts their cash flow. Free markets are never truly wanted by 'free market' players when it means they can't control the market. Apple will have to force their way in and may have to pay for it.

 

[elvisimprsntr]

I already pay for free OTA TV through taxes and ads. Why would I pay for a service with likely biased news and content?

 

[TimmeyCook]

Most Pay TV shows on AMC, HBO and Netflix are appealing mainly to men.

Little Hulu had a hit with The Handmaids Tale that targets women and men.

Apple is targetting straight to women, and women are 50% of the population and are much less likely to pirate, in my opinion.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

They MAY do this. Or MAY one of 1,000,000,000 other things. May, might, maybe. Your guess is as good as ours.

 

[swingerofbirch]

Spotify/Hulu student for 4.99 is still the best deal going ($12.99 for everyone else).

I could see Apple doing something with newspapers where you pay to get access to NYTimes, Washington Post, etc., rather than pay for each separately. Although since the Washington Post is owned by Amazon I doubt they'd go for it. I'm a Prime member and paying $120 a year for that I balk at the request to pay to read Washington Post articles, so for now I just erase the Washington Post cookies each time they ask me to pay.

 

[Kaibelf]

Most Pay TV shows on AMC, HBO and Netflix are appealing mainly to men.

Little Hulu had a hit with The Handmaids Tale that targets women and men.

Apple is targetting straight to women, and women are 50% of the population and are much less likely to pirate, in my opinion.

Since we know really nothing at all about Apple's original content so far and have seen no actual episodes of these scripted shows that won't be out for quite a while, how exactly are they targeting women aside from MR using a Wonder Woman screen grab from ATV in the article? Given the featured content on Apple Music I'm not sure your theory completely holds water.

 

[iapplelove]

Don’t care about news or magazines or even original content.

Let me stream everything iTunes has to offer for one monthly price.

Apple Music as well as movies and TV shows...that’s what I want.

 

[Art Mark]

I'm not saying I think their shows are a waste of time but I don't see anything listed that I think is worth $5/month and it will probably cost more than that. Netflix has a broad range of shows, Amazon Prime we get because we live in the country and the free shipping eventually pays for the Prime service, and the rest of the subscription stations seem good when we watch at a friends house but when we ask how often they watch the channel its once or twice a week at most. Not worth it.

Depends on what you mean by 'not worth it'. We only have streaming services. Leaving cable was certainly worth it. I suspect it will be bundled with other services and be a loss leader like Prime Video is. 80% of Prime is truly horrible crap. But that's not their business so they don't truly care. It's added on for the time being to, as you say, free shipping. Not sure what Apple has to offer to get buy in.

 

[Glockworkorange]

Most Pay TV shows on AMC, HBO and Netflix are appealing mainly to men.

Little Hulu had a hit with The Handmaids Tale that targets women and men.

Apple is targetting straight to women, and women are 50% of the population and are much less likely to pirate, in my opinion.

Sigh....more identity politics.

 

[EdT]

Depends on what you mean by 'not worth it'. We only have streaming services. Leaving cable was certainly worth it. I suspect it will be bundled with other services and be a loss leader like Prime Video is. 80% of Prime is truly horrible crap. But that's not their business so they don't truly care. It's added on for the time being to, as you say, free shipping. Not sure what Apple has to offer to get buy in.

Right now nobody really knows if the shows are any good, and I haven’t seen even guesses at a price. I’m long past my early adopter phase in life, too many expensive misses for too few good hits. Someone else can go first.

 

[lkrupp]

It will all depend on pricing. I pay $99/yr for Apple Music right now. How much more for original content and news?

 

[npmacuser5]

Bundling what makes Amazon Prime a good value. Apple bundling, good competitive move. Hope it happens!

 

[Rychiar]

The tv and new should come with apple music, Apple's original content will inevitably suck and who wants to pay for news mags. that stuff should all be freebies.

 

[CarpalMac]

Free marketing tip - don't lead with Carpool Karaoke.

You're welcome.

 

[Xano]

If I continue to pay $99/yr for Apple Music, TV original content and news, numbers will increase

 

[pika2000]

Personally, not sure if this is a good idea for Apple. Making a successful show is expensive and a gamble (thus we mostly see the bug networks doing it as they own the pipe as well). Apple doesn't own any pipe, only the front end device. Most people already paid a bundle with their ISP for content.

Maybe it's only a matter of time that Apple will want to be the pipe as well.

 

[FelixDerKater]

In the end, the old cable bundle will have been the better, more cost-effective option.

 

[Kaibelf]

Personally, not sure if this is a good idea for Apple. Making a successful show is expensive and a gamble (thus we mostly see the bug networks doing it as they own the pipe as well). Apple doesn't own any pipe, only the front end device. Most people already paid a bundle with their ISP for content.

Maybe it's only a matter of time that Apple will want to be the pipe as well.

If Apple's business as a pipe (specifically around service levels and privacy) are anywhere near the rest of the company when you need help, I'd be more than okay with that and would eat any ETF on the market to switch. It's obscene that in a lot of places you are unable to opt out of your own ISP sniffing around and selling your data without having to invest in all kinds of masking technologies.

I changed ISPs to Comcast not even a month ago because of a move and disgustingly limited options and so far THREE of their "trusted partners" have called my personal cell phone with information about my broadband subscription trying to sell me things.

 

[kazmac]

No thanks. Another Apple subscription bundle I am not interested in. As long as I can buy my movies and music from Apple I will do so but that is it for me,

 

[ipponrg]

If Apple's business as a pipe (specifically around service levels and privacy) are anywhere near the rest of the company when you need help, I'd be more than okay with that and would eat any ETF on the market to switch. It's obscene that in a lot of places you are unable to opt out of your own ISP sniffing around and selling your data without having to invest in all kinds of masking technologies.

I changed ISPs to Comcast not even a month ago because of a move and disgustingly limited options and so far THREE of their "trusted partners" have called my personal cell phone with information about my broadband subscription trying to sell me things.

Please be honest here. Are you actually surprised?