Apple’s video-streaming service now thought to debut at some point in the second half of 2019

Apple’s video-streaming service was supposed to launch by Spring 2019 or somewhere between March 2019 and the summer of that year, per an August report by The New York Times. As it would seem, it should now arrive at some point in the second half of 2019.

The tidbit was reveled in today’s Variety article about Apple’s cool new partnership deal with DHX Media that will see the latter produce new, exclusive animated content with Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang for Apple’s upcoming video streaming service that’s “expected to launch at some point in the second half of 2019.”

I think it’s safe and reasonable to assume that Tim Cook & Co. are going to unveil the service in the fall 2019 because the company rarely announces major initiatives during the summer. It could, however, take the wraps off of the yet-to-be-named service at its annual developers conference, which usually takes place at the start of the summer.

Apple might even release a sixth-generation Apple TV to accompany the service’s launch.

But the company is facing an uphill battle. Netflix as the leading video-streaming service will spend about $8 billion in 2018 on content acquisition and original programming. The Wall Street Journal in August 2017 pegged Apple’s budget for Hollywood push at a cool $1 billion.

ROUNDUP: Apple’s original TV shows and series

That sum was meant to cover procurement and production of about ten original television shows by the end of 2018, but Apple’s original video ambitious have since grown considerably—a projection from Loup Ventures analyst Gene Munster has it that the iPhone maker has now ramped the original content spend to a whopping $4.2 billion by 2022.

According to other estimates, Apple’s video-streaming business could equal Netflix by 2025.