It’s been previously reported that Apple is targeting April to debut a new streaming product that will include original content free for Apple device owners and a platform to subscribe to other digital media services. However, CNBC reports that HBO hasn’t signed on to the service due to a disagreement over revenue sharing with Apple, while Netflix and Hulu aren’t expected to be a part of the “Channels” service.
The report says Apple’s service will debut in April (or perhaps early May) and will will feature free original content for device owners and a subscription platform for existing digital services. Customers will be able to sign up for existing digital streaming products and watch them in the iOS and tvOS TV apps (and let’s hope that a Mac version will arrive at the same time). CNBC says Starz, CBS (which owns Showtime) and Viacom are expected to offer subscriptions on the Apple platform.
In addition to some movies, Apple has 28 scripted series in the works. Upcoming original programming titles from Apple include:
“Amazing Stores,”
“Are You Sleeping,”
“Home,” “Little America,”
“See,” a world building drama set in the future
An untitled Damien Chazelle drama,
An untitled Reese Witherspoon/Jennifer Anniston/Steve Carrell dramedy, “Dickinson” (a half-hour comedy starring Hailee Stenifeld),
An Ronald D. Moore science-fiction drama dubbed “For All Mankind,”
An untitled M. Night Shyamalan thriller series,
A TV series adaption of “Foundation,” the Isaac Asimov science fiction novel trilogy,
The half-hour dramedy “Little Voices” from producers J.J. Abrams and Sara Bareilles,
“Little America” from the screenwriters (Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani) of “The Big Sick” and producer/writer Lee Eisenberg,
A drama series about pre-teen investigative reporter Hilde Lysiak,
A TV series based on the “Time Bandits” movie,
An English-language adaptation of the French short-form series Canal+, “See,” a world-building drama set in the future,
A series based on the bestselling 2017 novel “Pachinko,”
A half-hour scripted comedy from Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day, “Defending Jacob” starring Chris Evans,
A series produced by Anonymous Content and based on the New York Times article, “Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change,”
An AAU basketball drama series dubbed Swagger from NBA superstar Kevin Durant,
“My Glory Was I Had Such Friends,” a limited TV series for Apple. The one-hour limited drama stars and is executive produced by Jennifer Garner and executive produced by J.J. Abrams via his Bad Robot Productions banner. Based on the 2017 memoir of the same name by Amy Silverstein, “the story showcases the power of friendship and the resilience of the human spirit as it follows an extraordinary group of women who supported Silverstein as she waited for a second life-saving heart transplant.”
Original series, specials, and shorts based on the “Peanuts” gang of characters created by Charles M. Schulz.
