A detailed report from WSJ has spilled the beans on Apple’s upcoming video streaming services and news subscription service due to be unveiled at its ‘Show Time’ event on March 25.
The report mentions that Apple will be charging $9.99/month for Apple News Magazines. It will feature more than 200 magazines and newspapers at launch including content from The Wall Street Journal. However, WSJ’s general news content will be given a higher priority over business and finance news which cater to a smaller audience.
As for its video streaming service, Apple will be offering customers subscriptions to HBO, Showtime, and Starz each for $9.99/month and charge extra for its own content. It remains to be seen as to how this works and how Apple will charge for its original content.
Additionally, to reach a wider user base, Apple is mulling bringing its TV app to smart TVs and Roku streaming boxes. Apple has already expanded AirPlay 2 support to TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, and Vizio earlier this year, though the feature is only available on some popular models released in the last year or two.
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has been pretty serious about the company’s efforts. He has regularly pushed the team to achieve goals which they initially thought were impossible. The Apple Music team had expected to cross 10 million subscribers within one year of its launch. Cook, however, told them to increase this goal to 20 million which Apple Music did end up crossing pretty easily.
The success of Apple Music gave Tim Cook and Eddy Cue the confidence needed to explore other avenues in the services sector where Apple could leave its mark. Videos were right at the top of that list and Apple even considered buying Disney or Netflix outright as per the report. Ultimately though, it decided to produce its own original content. At its ‘Show Time’ event, Apple will be showing some footage from its original content to show viewers what it has been up to over the last year or two.
Our Take
There’s a lot of buzz around Apple’s upcoming video streaming service and it is being cited as a Netflix ‘killer’ by many. However, a lot depends on what Apple charges for its streaming service and most importantly, how good its shows are. So far, we have seen Apple release a few original shows of its own including Planet of the Apps and Carpool Karaoke which bombed with the audience.
Apple will be live streaming ‘It’s Show Time’ event.
[Via WSJ]
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