Apple’s Netflix rival could launch next March – but it’s only got 12 TV shows so far
APPLE is trying to break Hollywood, and could launch a Netflix-style app as soon as 2019.
The iPhone maker is investing billions of dollars in original TV shows – and has already signed stars like Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and Kristen Wiig.
Apple has been surprisingly open about its dreams of launching a TV streaming platform.
But we've only now got a sense of the true scale of Apple's TV dreams thanks to an eye-opening New York Times .
According to the article, Apple has just 12 projects in the works – but has ambitious plans to grow.
That's why the firm is building a new 128,00-square-foot HQ for its entertainment division in Culver City, California.
The new TV team is called Apple Worldwide Video, and is reported to have a workforce of 40 employees.
According to the report, Apple has divisions for "adult dramas, children's shows and Latin American and European programming".
It's a bold move, given how Apple is mostly known for building phones and computers.
"We don't know anything about making television," Apple exec Eddy Cue said earlier this month.
"So what skills does Apple bring to that? And the viewpoint is: very little.
Apple's Netflix rival – what can you watch on it?
Here's what Apple is working on...
- Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston are working on a series about a morning TV show
- Damien Chazelle, who directed La La Land, is writing and directing every episode of a new series
- Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories (an 80s TV show) will be rebooted
- Ronald D. Moore, who produced Battlestar Galactica and Outlander, will work on a new space drama
- The creator of Bob's Burgers is signed to pen a new animated series
- Kristen Wiig is starring in a new comedy
- Octavia Spencer will appear in a new drama
- There'll be a documentary series about lavish homes from Matt Tyrnauer
"There's other things we bring. We know how to create apps, we know how to do distribution, we know how to market.
"But we don't really know how to create shows."
What may help is the fact that Apple is already poaching TV top brass.
Last year, Apple hired Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, who previously worked at Sony Pictures Television – the studio behind Breaking Bad and The Crown.
Apple is flaunting its wallet because it can – the company has around $285billion (£200billion) in cash reserves, which it can access at any time.
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But it's going up against tough rival Netflix, which already has plans to spend up to $8billion (£5.6billion) on content in 2018.
The hugely popular streaming service looks likely to release more than 500 original shows this year.
Would you use an Apple-made Netflix alternative? Let us know in the comments.
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