Hollywood

iOS 11 to bring new video features to Apple Music, 10 original series planned this year

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 28, 2017

Bloomberg BusinessWeek today ran an extensive profile of Jimmy Iovine, 64, who runs Apple Music. In it, he reveals some of Apple's plans for the service, including new video-centric features coming to Apple Music as part of iOS 11. Iovine says Apple could release up to ten original series on Apple Music this year. Essentially, it boils down to turning Apple's music-streaming service into a one-stop shop for pop culture.

Apple’s Hollywood strategy remains murky

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 21, 2017

Apple is launching a show about apps and their makers, titled “Planet of the Apps”, as well as a Carpool Karaoke spinoff this spring, marking its first two original reality shows. However, the company's overall programming strategy when it comes to original video content production is still a moving target as to what exactly it wants to do in that space, several people in the industry have told Mashable.

Apple may offer HBO, Showtime and Starz in a combined premium TV bundle

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2017

Recode reported Sunday that Apple is considering offering a “premium TV bundle” with content from the networks HBO, Showtime and Starz.

As I'm sure you'll recall, the Cupertino company's long been rumored to have been interested in creating a $30-$40 per month skinny bundle of top TV programming from multiple content owners.

While App Store offers apps from each of those channels individually, Apple has reportedly approached the three networks about rolling them up into a single package, as conventional pay TV operators sometimes do.

Senior Apple executives reportedly clashing over who gets to secure major Hollywood deals

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 3, 2017

Apple's ambitions in terms of securing lucrative deals with Hollywood are reportedly being stymied by internal infighting between three senior executives who have been clashing over who will secure the first major content deal for Apple TV. According to The New York Post, Hollywood insiders are scratching their heads over who exactly is driving the effort.

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.