Apple is planning to expand from iPhones and laptops to original television shows and movies, people familiar with the decisions told The Wall Street Journal. The original content is an attempt to boost the appeal of Apple Music, a $10-a-month streaming service that is dwarfed by Spotify.
Apple is reportedly already in talks with producers about buying the rights to scripted television shows, aiming to nab programs comparable to Westworld on HBO or Stranger Things on Netflix, The Wall Street Journal reports. Movies, while further down the line than TV, are also being discussed with "people in Hollywood."
Because it is looking at just a handful of carefully selected shows, and potentially films, it doesn't appear Apple is preparing to spend the hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars it would need to spend annually to become a direct competitor to Netflix Inc., Amazon.com Inc.'s Prime Video, or premium cable networks.Rather, it would escalate the arms race between Apple Music and Spotify, which both offer essentially the same catalog of tens of millions of songs, by adding other content that could distinguish Apple's service. [The Wall Street Journal]
The company is aiming to have scripted content available on the service by the end of 2017.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The UK-made Storm Shadow missiles Ukraine is using in RussiaThe Explainer Ukraine reportedly deployed the long-range British missiles this week, following a tense meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump
-
Dry skin, begone! 8 products to keep your skin supple while travelingThe Week Recommends Say goodbye to dry and hello to hydration
-
Sudoku medium: October 23, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Warner Bros. explores sale amid Paramount bidsSpeed Read The media giant, home to HBO and DC Studios, has received interest from multiple buying parties
-
Gold tops $4K per ounce, signaling financial uneaseSpeed Read Investors are worried about President Donald Trump’s trade war
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B dealspeed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fineSpeed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in IntelSpeed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to ChinaSpeed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with DisneySpeed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B dealSpeed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
