Apple Inc. “will host A-list celebrities and media executives on March 25 to outline how it will take on competitors like Amazon.com Inc. and Netflix Inc.,” Lucas Shaw, Mark Gurman, and Julie Verhage report for Bloomberg. “Apple plans to unveil a long-awaited streaming service and magazine subscription bundle, and could use the event in Cupertino, California, to preview additional Apple Pay features, laying the groundwork for an iPhone credit-card partnership with Goldman Sachs Group Inc.”
“But before the curtain goes up, Apple needs to complete deals. The company is racing to secure movies and TV shows to offer alongside its own original videos and is offering concessions to get deals done by a Friday deadline, according to people familiar with the matter,” Shaw, Gurman, and Verhage report. “Pay-TV programmers such as HBO, Showtime and Starz have to decide whether Apple is an existential threat, as some now view Netflix, a potential partner or something in between.”
“he upcoming video service, which will likely be integrated into the iPhone, iPad and set-top box’s TV app, will include two new features: shows funded, bought or developed by Apple, and programming from outside media companies,” Shaw, Gurman, and Verhage report. “At launch, most of the shows and movies in Apple’s video service will be from outside suppliers, underscoring the importance of signing up partners. Most of Apple’s own movies and TV shows are still in development, according to the people, with the company planning the first slew of releases later in the year at the earliest.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s down to the wire, but we bet HBO, Showtime, and Starz, among others, will be on board when the service is unveiled on the 25th.
SEE ALSO:
Signs of ‘Apple News Magazines’ subscription service spotted in macOS Mojave 10.14.4 beta – March 12, 2019
Analysts see 100 million subscribers for Apple’s streaming service within 3 to 5 years – March 12, 2019
What to expect at Apple’s ‘It’s Show Time’ special event on March 25th – March 12, 2019
It’s official: Apple sends out invites to ‘It’s Show Time’ special event on March 25th – March 11, 2019
Headlines like this make it seem like Apple been doing nothing for years… Yeah, HBO, its a thing… Isn’t that conclusion a ‘first day intern response’? You know HBO is going to say yes, they need as many subscribers as possible. Better late than never. If Apple was in this arena earlier, you’d think they have more leverage.
How does that leave the standalone HBO ATV app where you can use a subscription purchased outside of the Apple system? – With 30% less income?
Good God! The way this is going…multiple apps and multiple subscriptions for nothing but redundancy and bragging rights to say we’re the ones supplying your content.
People bitch and moan about Comcast Xfinity but, they are looking like more of a bargain. I personally love my X1 DVR. It’s so convenient and works great.
The thing I find annoying about my Fire TV is that I can’t link my Showtime subscription from Spectrum and have to use a separate App. It would be very cool to be able to link an existing subscription to my Amazon Video service so that a single search could also find shows in Showtime. This is one area Apple’s Video streaming service could get an advantage over Amazon and not just be a copy of what Amazon Video already provides for 3rd party provider subscriptions.