Apple has hired the former head of Amazon Fire TV, Timothy Twerdahl, as a new vice president for Apple TV. Alongside Amazon, Twerdahl has also previously worked for Netflix and Roku.
In Twerdahl’s previous role at Amazon, he was in charge of negotiating media deals. This is an area Apple has struggled with, with one previous report claiming that content dealmaker Eddy Cue was viewed as arrogant by TV execs during negotiations.
News of Apple’s new hires comes on the back of reports that the company is serious about getting into the original content game, much as Netflix and Amazon have done before.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Apple is in talks with “veteran producers” about buying the rights to existing shows, and has also told them that it has plans to create its own programming — although those efforts are still in the early stages.
Apple has so far experimented with original content by planning a TV series of Carpool Karaoke, which will feature different pairs of musicians and celebrities for a 16-episode run. Another unscripted Apple TV show, called Planet of the Apps, will feature Jessica Alba, Will.i.Am, Gwyneth Paltrow and Gary Vaynerchuk, possibly in a sort of Shark Tank for app developers.
On top of this have been long-form documentaries such as The Cash Money Story, about popular hip-hop label Cash Money Records, and another about the cultural impact of the Roland TR-808 drum machine.
However, most of these are bound for Apple Music, as opposed to a standalone TV subscription service. Whether that could potentially change with new experienced TV industry hires remains to be seen.
Twerdahl will work under Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president in charge of marketing for the iPhone. The hiring puts him in a role previously occupied by ex-Hulu exec Pete Distad, although Distad will continue to work with Eddy Cue on additional content deals.
Source: Bloomberg
