Apple TV originals set for spring 2019 launch
March 27, 2018
Apple’s new TV programming slate of TV originals has a planned rollout of sometime between March 2019 and summer 2019 according to the NYT.
Apple has recruited a 40-person team to work at Apple Worldwide Video in California, where it creates original content, and is opening divisions for dramas, children’s shows, and programming tailored for Latin American and European audiences.
The WSJ reported last year that Apple would spend $1 billion on acquiring and producing original content over the next 12 months, but the NYT believes that the tech giant is on track to spend way beyond that amount, having outspent both Facebook and YouTube in recent months. By comparison, Netflix is planning to spend $8 billion on content in 2018.
Apple has not yet revealed how the shows will be distributed, but it’s most likely that Apple will use its Apple TV box or TV app for the service, putting the content behind a pay wall.
Last year, Apple poached TV executives Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht from Sony Pictures Television. They currently head Apple Worldwide Video.
Apple has made deals for 12 projects so far, and the company has already signed up some big names to work on its slate of original content. The projects include: the Steven Spielberg anthology Amazing Stories; a psychological thriller produced by M. Night Shyamalan; and a drama series about a network morning show which will star Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. Of the 12 projects, nine have been given ‘straight-to-series’ orders. Skipping the usual pilot episode process.