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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
(Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Tuesday August 20 2019, @09:27AM (5 children)
Jobs managed to bring to market NeXT/OSX Macs, ipod, iPhone, iPad**
Looking to the Jobs-less Apple, no new tech, not even a notable evolution of their gizmos; and they are stepping now into the content production, a quite crowded market.
I wonder how long their treasure chest will last.
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** I let aside the first Macs, Jobs shares the success of them with Wozniak
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 4, Insightful) by terrab0t on Tuesday August 20 2019, @09:34AM (2 children)
It will last quite a while.
Remember, Apple is not an American company. It is an international company and it keeps vast sums of money outside of the US to avoid US taxes. That money doesn’t get taxed if they bring it in and spend it, so all of that non US cash is at their disposal. Hopefully they create something of value, but at least they are finding something to spend that cash on in the US rather than continuing to hide it elsewhere.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday August 20 2019, @02:33PM
Why haven't they used it before now? Maybe that cash doesn't actually exist. Wouldn't be anywhere near the first time that someone claims to have something, accounting-wise, but which evaporates upon contact with reality.
(Score: 2) by legont on Wednesday August 21 2019, @12:46AM
Why don't they shoot it on Mars? With Mask as the star.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Bot on Tuesday August 20 2019, @10:26AM (1 child)
Depending on the point of view, it's the same old apple.
Apple had the whole PC market (not that they were the first), left to IBM.
Had the whole GUI market (not that they were the first), left to Microsoft.
Had the whole internet phone market (not that they were the first), left to Android.
Had the whole pro media workstation market (not that they were the first), left to intel clones.
The alternative started out as inferior, and made progress by gobbling up cheap audience and more importantly devs, until the apple, resting on its laurels, find itself the second choice.
What changed apple was the return of steve. Old steve, normal reality distortion field, new steve, back in the place where he was ousted from, became a control freak so the imac and the ipod were the beginning of the closing up of the ecosystem culminated with the apple store. That is the kind of company the system likes, BTW and from the always on the brink of bankrupcy we got to the swimming into cash corporation.
What made apple great (apart the woz) was still steve, because he was the average user who wants stuff to work and be sleek, so the engineers had to cater to him.
Now apple reasons like the average corporation, a clone of sony.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 20 2019, @03:07PM
In my experience the phone market has been more variable. At one time, 2/3 of new deployments of my app were on androids, now 2/3 are iPhones.