Apple Set to Drop $1 Billion on Original TV Content
The world’s biggest tech company wants to have up to 10 big-budget shows in the next year
Sean Burch | August 16, 2017 @ 8:31 AM
Last Updated: August 16, 2017 @ 8:57 AM
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The biggest tech company in the world has set its sights on Hollywood in a major way.
Apple is ready to spend $1 billion in the next year on original television and streaming content, with the tech behemoth instantly muscling its way to the increasingly crowded programming table, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The billion-dollar earmark is for up to 10 shows, with Apple aiming for content like “House of Cards” from Netflix. Apple tapped former Sony chiefs Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg to lead its original programming in June, with the duo behind prestige shows like “Breaking Bad,” and “The Crown.”
Apple’s commitment is a drop in the bucket for the company — which has more than $250 billion in cash at its disposal. It also pales in comparison to the amount other studios are spending. Amazon is projected to spend $4.5 billion this year on content, and HBO spent $2 billion last year.
The Cupertino, California-based company has started to dip its toes into the original content water under CEO Tim Cook, to mixed results. It’s “Carpool Karaoke” spinoff debuted this month with “Late Late Show” host James Corden, and its “Planet of the Apps” series — similar to “Shark Tank” — was ridiculed, despite the star power of Jessica Alba and Will.i.am.
With Facebook ready to launch dozens of shows on its new “Watch” tab this month, and Netflix planning to spend up to 50 percent of its budget on original programming by 2020, the tech entertainment war is just starting to unfold.
6 Tech Giants Shaking Up News, From Jeff Bezos to Laurene Powell Jobs (Photos)
Tech leaders are increasingly intertwined with the news business. While some want to support old properties, one set out to destroy a new one. Here they are.
Jeff Bezos – Washington Post
The Amazon founder purchased the Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million in cash. President Trump has called the paper the “Amazon Washington Post.”
The Facebook co-founder purchased The New Republic in 2012, becoming executive chairman and publisher. However, he sold the venerable political magazine to Win McCormack in 2016, saying he "underestimated the difficulty of transitioning an old and traditional institution into a digital media company in today’s quickly evolving climate."
The eBay founder is a well-known philanthropist who created First Look Media, a journalism venture behind The Intercept. Inspired by Edward Snowden's leaks. Omidyar teamed up with journalists Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras to launch the website “dedicated to the kind of reporting those disclosures required: fearless, adversarial journalism.”
The PayPal co-founder doesn’t own a news organization, but he makes this list because he essentially ended one -- Gawker -- proving once again the power of an angry billionaire. Thiel secretly bankrolled Hulk Hogan’s sex-tape lawsuit against Gawker Media because he was upset that the website once outed him as gay. Hogan won the defamation lawsuit against the site that sent its parent company into bankruptcy, and Gawker.com is no longer operating.
OK, so Facebook isn’t technically a news organization… yet. However, the company is preparing to launch its much-anticipated lineup of original content later this summer, and there are also signs that it's on the verge of becoming an even bigger media platform.
Campbell Brown, Head of News Partnerships at Facebook, confirmed last week it’s developing a subscription service for publishers willing to post articles directly to Facebook Instant Articles, rather than their native websites.
Tech is increasingly intertwined with news, for better or worse
Tech leaders are increasingly intertwined with the news business. While some want to support old properties, one set out to destroy a new one. Here they are.