Entertainment

Apple Music’s upcoming Carpool Karaoke show will feature a different host every episode

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 9, 2017

Apple's upcoming show, Carpool Karaoke, will consist of sixteen half-hour episodes that will air on Apple Music and feature a different host every episode, Variety reported Monday.

Based on James Corden's Carpool Karaoke viral segment during CBS's Late Late Show, Apple's version will use a format that is more of an interview series with outside-the-box pairings like Billy Eichner in the passenger seat, surrounded by the band Metallica, or former NFL star and talk show host Michael Strahan and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon.

Hulu gains 50+ Disney films in exclusive streaming deal

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 29, 2017

Subscription video on demand service Hulu just announced an exclusive multi-year deal with the entertainment conglomerate Disney that gives it rights to stream a collection of hit movies and family favorites from the rich library of blockbuster films from The Walt Disney Studios. This means that Disney movies like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Mulan, Pocahontas, Hercules, Sister Act and Air Bud are all now available to stream exclusively via Hulu.

How Apple can get users to connect with Apple Music’s Connect

Steffen Reich ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

Apple’s Connect service, the company's own aspiring social component to Apple Music, has visibly taken a back seat in iOS 10. In its original conception, Connect was resourceful and prominently placed in Music. Fast forward one year and you would be forgiven for thinking that Apple’s network for musicians and their followers had been as good as abandoned over night.

While we know that such is not the case just yet, Connect has undergone cosmetic changes with iOS 10 that have arguably ousted the service to a place now pretty much neighbouring on irrelevance. It's the consequence of a succession of ill-advised calls. Name-giving aside, Apple should have also known better when it comes to launching a barren product offer centre stage inside an app as meaningful as Music. Connect was not engaging or relevant in 2015, and as a result it went unsung in 2016. Is it too late or could an Apple still turn the ship around?

For today only, iTunes is offering 10-movie bundles for just $10

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 15, 2017

Ten years ago this month, digital movies launched on iTunes with just 75 titles, all from studios owned by Disney in which Steve Jobs was the largest individual shareholder. Today, iTunes offers more than 85,000 feature-length movies for purchase or rental. To celebrate ten years of iTunes Movies, Apple is offering six ten-movie bundles, priced at just $9.99.

For today only, customers in the United States can buy these bundles packed with releases from Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount, Lionsgate and Sony Pictures that cover a wide range of genres.

Jessica Alba has boarded “Planet of the Apps” as a mentor and executive producer

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 30, 2016

“Planet of the Apps”, an unscripted television show about apps and their creators co-produced by Apple and Propagate Content’s Ben Silverman and Howard Owens, has added actress/model Jessica Alba to the list of its mentors and advisers, The Variety reports. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Internet personality and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk also joined the project recently, in addition to musician will.i.am.

Hulu transitions free content to Yahoo View, renews focus on subscriptions

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 8, 2016

Hulu said today it's phased out its free, ad-suported tier as it refocuses efforts on subscription services. According to Variety, free TV episodes will no longer be available on Hulu, but the current $7.99/$11.99 per month paid tiers won't change. All Hulu content that was available free with ads has moved to Yahoo View, a new service designed for hosting free, ad-supported TV shows from the likes of ABC, NBC, Fox and others.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Gary Vaynerchuk join Apple-produced “Planet of the Apps” as mentors

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 4, 2016

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Internet personality and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk joined “Planet of the Apps”, an unscripted television show about apps and their creators co-produced by Apple and Propagate Content's Ben Silverman and Howard Owens, Variety reported today.

CBS All Access and Showtime streaming services have surpassed 2M subscribers

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 29, 2016

Cable providers can complain all they want about Apple’s “hard-nosed” negotiation tactics when it comes to digital entertainment, but some of them seem to be enjoying unexpected success after introducing over-the-top subscription packages specifically aimed at cord cutters.

Take as an example CBS and its All Access and Showtime Anytime video-streaming services, which have now surpassed two million subscribers, with user bases evenly split between the two, as revealed by CBS's CEO on a quarterly results conference call with analysts and investors.

WSJ: Apple’s “hard-nosed” negotiation tactics have “alienated” cable providers

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 28, 2016

Apple's stubbornness and “hard-nosed” negotiation tactics have backfired and “alienated” cable providers, who say the firm is a cheapskate in terms of paying for digital content, reports The Wall Street Journal. For years, Apple's been persuading cable firms to let it sell their cherry-picked programming in a skinny TV bundle of its own for about $30 per month vs. $80+ for traditional cable subscriptions.

tvOS’s Universal Search feature gains support for Comedy Central, MTV and VH1

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 15, 2016

Universal Search feature on the fourth-generation Apple TV has been refreshed yesterday with expanded support for searching content provided by tvOS video apps from Viacom-owned Comedy Central and music networks MTV and VH1. Provided these apps are installed on your set-top box, you can either use the Search app on the device or press the Siri button on the remote and use your voice to find shows like South Park and others.

Eddy Cue: Apple is a delivery platform, not a Netflix rival (plus, skinny bundle “is a misconception”)

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 14, 2016

Eddy Cue, 52, Apple's Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, sat down for an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, answering a series of questions related to Apple's alleged attempts to introduce a skinny bundle of television programming on iTunes, its relationship with content owners and swirling rumors that it may be invested in creating original programming to become the next Netflix or Comcast.

ABC revamps its iPhone, iPad and Apple TV apps, adds throwback shows

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 13, 2016

The American Broadcasting Company (ABC), a broadcast television network owned by the Disney–ABC Television Group, announced today that its Watch ABC app for the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple TV shall be known going forward as just ABC. In addition to rebranding, the new ABC app now packs in an overhauled user interface and more content, including exclusive digital series for users who download the app as well as 38 full seasons of “throwback” TV shows.