David Hanak This year is a turning point for Apple in that the company tried to make a real breakthrough in the segment for the first time own video content. After months of speculation about what Apple was actually up to, it turned out to be two new shows. They are the ones Planet of the Apps and Carpool Karaoke. The first mentioned is already over and received a rather negative evaluation from viewers and critics, the second just started, but initial impressions are also likely not what the company expected. However, they do not intend to let up in their efforts and are already thoroughly preparing for next year. All efforts are to be supported by a newly created financial package, which is loaded with billions of dollars.
Apple has really earmarked nearly one billion dollars in funding for next year, which will go across new projects, both owned and purchased. In the film business, this is a respectable amount, representing roughly half of what HBO spent on its projects last year. And speaking of comparisons, Amazon also allocated the same budget for its projects in 2013. One billion dollars also corresponds to about a sixth of the current budget for Netflix projects.
The Wall Street Journal reports that with this budget, Apple could prepare up to 10 high-budget series of a similar type, such as Game of Thrones. The financial complexity of such production is highly variable. One episode of a comedy series can cost a company more than $2 million, a drama more than double that. In the case of the already mentioned Game of Thrones, we can talk about more than 10 million dollars per episode.
Apple is obviously serious about entering this segment. The problem will be that the competition has a significant lead both in established series and in the large membership base. It is quite clear that Apple would have to come up with some kind of hit. Something that would kick start this whole effort, as Planet of the Apps didn't fulfill that role, and Carpool Karaoke doesn't seem to be making any significant progress either. Apple would need its own version of House of Cards or Orange is The New Black. It was these projects that basically started the popularity of Netflix. At the time, the company was working with a budget of roughly two billion dollars. Apple should thus be able to at least partially imitate this success.
The personnel capacities behind this effort are certainly not unknown names. Apple managed to acquire many interesting personalities from the industry. Whether it's Hollywood veteran Jaime Erlicht, or Zack Van Amburg (both originally from Sony), Matt Cherniss (former president of WGN America) or singer John Legend (all four see photos above). And it's not just about them. So the personnel side should not be a problem. As well as the infrastructure for the expansion and operation of the new service. The most challenging thing will be to come up with the right idea, which will score points with the audience and thus start the whole project. However, we will have to wait some more time for that one.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, reddit
And wouldn't it be something constructive? :)