Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Tuesday August 20 2019, @05:28AM   Printer-friendly
from the Lights!-Camera!-Money!!! dept.

Apple reportedly ups TV spending by $5 billion to compete with Amazon and Netflix

Apple has reportedly committed an eye-popping $5 billion dollars more to its original video content budget in a bid to better compete with Amazon, Disney, HBO, Netflix, and Hulu, according to a new report from the Financial Times.

The company had originally set aside $1 billion for former Sony Pictures Television executives Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg to court well-known creators and Hollywood stars to its platform. According to the FT, that number has jumped to $6 billion as more shows have moved through production and budgets have ballooned.

One production — a high-profile comedy-drama about morning television featuring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Steve Carrell called The Morning Show — has cost Apple hundreds of millions of dollars, the FT reports. Separately, Bloomberg reports that Apple is spending $300 million on just the first two seasons of the show.

That makes it more expensive on a per episode basis than the final season of HBO's Game of Thrones, which enjoyed a budget of roughly $15 million per episode and ranks as the most expensive season of television ever.

Also at 9to5Mac and Cord Cutters News.

Previously: Apple Investing $1 Billion in Acquiring and Producing TV Shows
Apple Inks Deal With Ex Machina Maker A24 Studio to Create Original Films


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by sjames on Tuesday August 20 2019, @07:53PM

    by sjames (2882) on Tuesday August 20 2019, @07:53PM (#882754) Journal

    Record spending on a comedy in spite of people already fed up with high entertainment costs and significant pushback.

    Perhaps it's time to try actually controlling production costs and reducing prices. Of course that might really cut in to the hollywood tradition of producers hiring production companies that they *just happen* to own at outrageous prices and making profits disappear.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2