Apple’s TV series adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s epic sci-fi novel Foundation has already experienced its first major shakeup.
Josh Friedman, who was originally tapped to lead the show alongside David S. Goyer, has reportedly decided to step down from the project.
Apple’s upcoming streaming video service now has someone in charge of documentaries. Molly Thompson previously held a similar role at A&E Networks.
Action and comedy shows have so far grabbed the most attention at Apple TV+, but clearly educational programming will play a big part too.
Disney’s new streaming service, officially announced for the first time on Thursday, will likely make its way to Apple TV.
That’s according to Disney CEO Bob Iger, who explained a Disney+ app will eventually be available through traditional distributors. You will also be able to enjoy it on Smart TVs and consoles.
Just when you think that Apple can’t get any bigger names for its TV+ service, it surprises you! Today, it was revealed that the U.K.’s Prince Harry, a.k.a the Duke of Sussex, has partnered with Oprah Winfrey for a new series.
Both parties are acting as co-creators and executive producers for a series on mental health. It will debut for Apple in 2020.
Horror master Stephen King will adapt his favorite novel, Lisey’s Story, into a TV series staring Oscar-winner Julianne Moore. This will be presented on the recently unveiled Apple TV+ service.
Lisey’s Story combines romance and psychological horror, and earned King a nomination for the World Fantasy Award in 2007.
Apple has been working towards its TV ambitions for more than a decade now, ever since it launched the original Apple TV in 2007. However, a new anecdote from technology journalist Nick Bilton makes clear just how unsure the company has been in the past about its goals with television.
Bilton recalls a meeting with Steve Jobs in 2010. During the encounter, Jobs backtracked on his previous claim that TV was going to be a core business for Apple. Things have certainly changed!
One of the big threads running through Apple’s Monday keynote was the company’s insistence on user privacy. Apple would not, it suggests, share data with companies for Apple Card or Apple News+.
The new Apple TV channels, however, could be a little different. At least, according to an interview with AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. Speaking at the Fintech Ideas Festival, Stephenson included Apple when talking about customer data analytics in HBO’s digital distribution deals. HBO is a division of AT&T’s WarnerMedia.
Roku CEO Anthony Wood says Apple’s new Apple TV+ streaming platform is going to be great for his company despite some analysts claiming it could hurt Roku over the long term.
Wood made an appearance on CNBC today talking about the benefits of Apple finally embracing third-party streaming boxes like Roku and Amazon’s FireTV. Even though Apple has hundreds of millions of active iPhones and iPads to push its Apple TV+ service, the way Wood sees it, Apple TV+ needs Roku to be successful.
At a time when critically acclaimed TV shows serve up a steady stream of sex and violence, the upcoming Apple TV+ service proffers an unusual prescription for success: optimism, inclusion, creativity and inspiration.
Touting its upcoming streaming video service as “the new home for the world’s most creative storytellers,” Apple is carefully framing its upcoming Apple TV+ day as a healthy antidote to Hollywood’s toxic hellstew of nudity and mindless gore. The company even suggested its original shows could act as a tonic to heal a nation divided by the bitter partisan politics of the Trump era.
Steven Spielberg, who brought us Indiana Jones and E.T., is lending his gravitas to the newly announced Apple TV+ service. He’s bringing back Amazing Stories, which told single-episode sci-fi tales back in the 1980s.
Its tone is expected to stand in stark contrast to Netflix’s Black Mirror, though the shows have similarities.