Two years after announcing it was entering the saturated original content market, Apple Inc. is finally expected to lift the veil on its tightly guarded plans to release original series and movies at its live event on Monday. Ahead of the announcement — beginning at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET — here’s what is expected to be revealed and what EW has learned about the talent and content in development.
The Content: Apple has more than 30 series and films in development for its originals slate, including the anticipated Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon reunion in the untitled morning TV show drama that’ll also star Steve Carell and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Talent such as Oprah Winfrey, Chris Evans, Brie Larson, J.J. Abrams, M. Night Shyamalan, Damien Chazelle and Jason Momoa have also come on board to create or star in buzzy new projects for the tech giant. (You can see the full list here.)
The Platform: Apple has 1.4 billion active installed devices as of January 2019, and it is highly likely that the tech giant will release its original content on a streaming platform that would be accessible on multiple Apple devices, from iPhones to Apple TV.
Subscription Model: Given the lucrative market for video streaming services, it’s expected that the original series and movies will be accessible via a monthly subscription plan, a la Netflix and Hulu. In order to entice people, Apple could offer up the first episode of its anticipated programming for free. It is not known yet if the movies that Apple has acquired or is making as part of its A24 partnership will have a theatrical release component, like Amazon does with its three-month theatrical window before movies come to Amazon Prime Video, or if it’ll debut the movies exclusively on its own platform.
The New York Times reported that Apple will be offering an expansive news and entertainment subscription services that could include access to newspapers, magazines, music, and original video content. And Apple has its Apple Music subscription service that has 50 million subscribers.
Launch Date: The best indication for a launch date of Apple’s original content is from Mimi Leder, who told EW that it’ll be “sometime in the summer of 2019.” Leder is directing a few episodes of the Aniston-Witherspoon morning show drama. This will mean that Apple shows won’t be eligible for this year’s Emmy Awards (for which shows must have aired by May 31), but it does make them eligible for the 2020 Golden Globes, for which the airdate cut-off is Dec. 31.
The Impact: When Apple enters any space, the world watches. With viewership habits changing significantly in the age of Peak TV and on-demand content, every major network has had to get on board with the growing audience in the streaming market and Apple’s entry into the market is buzzy, given its in-built consumer base and more than a billion devices in the world. But it’s also yet another new platform attempting to lure subscribers. Already, Netflix’s relationship with Apple is fraying — as reported by the Times — and Netflix will not be part of a bundle that Apple will offer with its subscription plan that’ll include up-selling access to HBO Go and CBS All Access.
Stay tuned here as EW covers live updates from Apple’s Cupertino event. You can livestream the event at Apple’s website.
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