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Apple Secretly Pursuing Deep Push Into Original Television Programming
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'When television is good, nothing — not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers — nothing is better. But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there for a day without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.'
In a speech given to the National Association of Broadcasters convention on May 9, 1961
Newton Minow is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission.
I watch very little TV any more. Granted there is some exceptional programming out there, but not enough to entice me to spend many hours in front of the screen. My time is better spent on more important aspects of and in my life.
For those of you who enjoy TV, no offense to you as it's a free persons choice how they wish to spend their time.
In a speech given to the National Association of Broadcasters convention on May 9, 1961
Newton Minow is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission.
I watch very little TV any more. Granted there is some exceptional programming out there, but not enough to entice me to spend many hours in front of the screen. My time is better spent on more important aspects of and in my life.
For those of you who enjoy TV, no offense to you as it's a free persons choice how they wish to spend their time.
I've enjoyed several of their Apple Music Festivals and I think Garage Band lessons are an untapped potential. They're not asking me, but I think if they initially focused on concerts, documentaries, animation, and instructional videos, I think they could do well and get a decent bang (recognition and awards) for their buck (cheaper costing projects).
It sounds like a very good strategy....for losing 5 billion dollars.
The economics of TV rely on scale.
Cable/satellite has scale because for decades it's been the only/best way to get content.
Netflix built scale on a dirt cheap model for old content that they parlayed into an audience for new content. (While slightly irritating their content providing partners.)
Amazon Prime achieved scale based on the Prime product of free two day shipping. I'd bet most Amazon Prime users see the content streaming as 'gravy' to the core service they are paying for.
Apple obviously has tons of money. And a lot of customers. But they don't have a lot of Apple TV customers. Creating a value proposition that would make customers pay for Apple TV (and the original content) means they have to bring something else to the table to achieve the paying subscriber base to make it worthwhile. While Apple has enough capital to fund a money losing content company, it doesn't seem like a wise investment.
Netflix' first highly successful original show (House of Cards) is produced by David Fincher and had a number of definitely AAA-list directors, not to mention the actors ...
In a longer piece covering the streaming television and video ambitions of Apple, Alibaba, Facebook, and Google, Fast Company suggests Apple is covertly pursuing original television programming deals that would establish it as a major player in the entertainment industry.
Apple is said to be seeking deals with "triple A-list" talent to create a full roster of shows to put it on par with Netflix and Amazon, both of which have successfully launched popular original television shows like House of Cards, Jessica Jones, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Sources that spoke to Fast Company say Apple is aiming to run several major shows at once, perhaps as part of a major launch.
At last year's Sundance Film Festival, Apple created an iTunes Lounge where it hosted private invitation-only events for film makers, producers, and other talent. At the event, described as sleek and understated, attendees said Apple was "definitely talking to the talent." As has been previously rumored, Apple execs also traveled to Los Angeles to hear ideas for original television shows, with Apple's original programming efforts being led by Robert Kondrk, vice president of iTunes Content.Given Apple's positive reputation among creators, Apple has the draw to attract quality talent and the cash reserves to fund high ticket shows. Content creators are said to be "so excited" about the possibility of working with Apple that people are "throwing [ideas] against the wall with them, to every extent possible."
According to five sources who spoke to Fast Company, however, Apple is "disorganized" and "hasn't presented a coherent strategy" for its television plans. The company is reportedly taking a "two-lane" approach to original television programming, producing a series of short films, documentaries, and music videos to promote Apple music while simultaneously developing full Netflix-style original programming.
Apple already has two known television projects in the works. The first, which has not yet been officially announced, is said to be an Apple Music-related project called Vital Signs, which is a dark semi-autobiographical drama starring Beats co-founder and Apple executive Dr. Dre. The second, which was announced in March, is a non-scripted television show that will "spotlight the app economy." Apple is working with Will.i.am, Ben Silverman, and Howard T. Owens on the series.
Alongside the announcement of the the App Store television series, iTunes chief Eddy Cue cautioned the show is not a signal Apple is delving deeper into original television and streaming video, despite rumors to the contrary.
"This doesn't mean that we are going into a huge amount of movie production or TV production or anything like that," Cue said at the time, but he did say Apple would explore similar exclusive projects. Hollywood sources told Fast Company that Apple is approaching its television ambitions with caution and that Cue's statement is "merely tamping down expectations."
Article Link: Apple Secretly Pursuing Deep Push Into Original Television Programming
But isn't that like saying Netflix is famous only because of HoC? There were other shows too, like Orange is the New Black and plenty of documentaries.
Wow. We're a long way from the revolution, I guess. Here I was thinking Apple made computers.
Really? You do know computers was removed from *Apple* while Jobs was well alive huh?
That Jobs talked about TV and cars and well, a lot of things to that have nothing to do with computers.
That the Ipod, a major part of Apple's current success was not sold as a computer in 2001.
Apple is about technology bettering our lives, not making us slave to it; using computers was just an incidental tool to do so, not an end goal. Think you should read more about Jobs philosophy and Apple's history.
While I don't disagree with your sentiment, I imagine Apple thinks they have to do this when competitors like Amazon are producing their own content. Apple has to protect and re-affirm the value of their ecosystem to customers, so they have to play the content game when everyone else is. It's not enough any more to just offer content via subscription. You have to provide content people can't get anywhere else. That's not great for customers, but that's the way the market has evolved.
If Eddy Cue is involved with this though, it'll be a disaster.
People said the same thing when HBO announced their intent to create original content.
In a longer piece covering the streaming television and video ambitions of Apple, Alibaba, Facebook, and Google, Fast Company suggests Apple is covertly pursuing original television programming deals that would establish it as a major player in the entertainment industry.
Apple is said to be seeking deals with "triple A-list" talent to create a full roster of shows to put it on par with Netflix and Amazon, both of which have successfully launched popular original television shows like House of Cards, Jessica Jones, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Sources that spoke to Fast Company say Apple is aiming to run several major shows at once, perhaps as part of a major launch.
At last year's Sundance Film Festival, Apple created an iTunes Lounge where it hosted private invitation-only events for film makers, producers, and other talent. At the event, described as sleek and understated, attendees said Apple was "definitely talking to the talent." As has been previously rumored, Apple execs also traveled to Los Angeles to hear ideas for original television shows, with Apple's original programming efforts being led by Robert Kondrk, vice president of iTunes Content.Given Apple's positive reputation among creators, Apple has the draw to attract quality talent and the cash reserves to fund high ticket shows. Content creators are said to be "so excited" about the possibility of working with Apple that people are "throwing [ideas] against the wall with them, to every extent possible."
According to five sources who spoke to Fast Company, however, Apple is "disorganized" and "hasn't presented a coherent strategy" for its television plans. The company is reportedly taking a "two-lane" approach to original television programming, producing a series of short films, documentaries, and music videos to promote Apple music while simultaneously developing full Netflix-style original programming.
Apple already has two known television projects in the works. The first, which has not yet been officially announced, is said to be an Apple Music-related project called Vital Signs, which is a dark semi-autobiographical drama starring Beats co-founder and Apple executive Dr. Dre. The second, which was announced in March, is a non-scripted television show that will "spotlight the app economy." Apple is working with Will.i.am, Ben Silverman, and Howard T. Owens on the series.
Alongside the announcement of the the App Store television series, iTunes chief Eddy Cue cautioned the show is not a signal Apple is delving deeper into original television and streaming video, despite rumors to the contrary.
"This doesn't mean that we are going into a huge amount of movie production or TV production or anything like that," Cue said at the time, but he did say Apple would explore similar exclusive projects. Hollywood sources told Fast Company that Apple is approaching its television ambitions with caution and that Cue's statement is "merely tamping down expectations."
Article Link: Apple Secretly Pursuing Deep Push Into Original Television Programming
Quadruple-A list, or frack off.
Remember what netfix's moto was?
"The goal is to become HBO faster than HBO can become us."
Sorry but I'm highly skeptical about anything involving Jimmy Iovine and Dre. Or this guy:
omg, that shirt. he looks like a pregnant grandma in a maternity shirt.
how does apple hire people like fat phil and eddie 'no clue' cue? unreal.
One of the first Netflix shows, House of Cards, got its start from an A list actor and an A list director. High Castle is produced by Ridley Scott. A listers can possess talent other than their bankable names.
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The difference is when Jobs came back to Apple it was almost bankrupt. In fiscal year 1997 Apple's revenues were $7 billion with a net loss of over $1 billion In fiscal year 2015 revenues were $234 billion with net income of $53B. It's impossible for Apple to just focus on a few things, especially when their main product lines are seeing slowing growth. Most of these products are good enough that people don't feel the need to upgrade as frequently. And things like AR and VR aren't even close to being mainstream.
I'm not convinced that Apple should get into original programming (and certainly not convinced that Eddy Cue and the Apple Music team are the ones who should lead it) but if iPhone growth is slowing Cook and the executive team have to look at other revenue streams and one is monetizing the user base via services. This is another reason I think the car stuff is real. How do you grow revenues on top of a base of $234B? A new Mac Pro and 5K Cinema Display isn't going to do it.
Also there is intense pressure from investors for Apple to ramp up services in a big way. They see iPhone growth slowing and wonder where revenue growth will come from. And then they see this install base of 1B and wonder what the heck Apple is doing to monetize it. But I agree with you, if Eddy Cue is ultimately in charge of this it will be a disaster. If Apple wants to do this then bring in the right people to run it. People that have experience producing original content.
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