Television is dead, and Netflix is to be blamed. Of course, there are other culprits like YouTube and Amazon, but Netflix was the one that pushed our dear, beloved TV in front of the train.
Here in India, too, on-demand content has been steadily on the rise. The growing popularity of streaming services (like Hotstar) and the availability of quality content (like the TVF Originals) are slowly and steadily choking the idiot box to death.
But why are we telling you all this? What’s it gotta do with AppleSutra? Well, if the rumours are true, then EVERYTHING!
Here’s the deal: Apple is planning to launch its own Original series. This means we might see TV shows that will be made for and delivered exclusively by the iTunes Store!
Apple has been engaging in talks with TV producers and studios about developing original content for iTunes, says The Street. Right now there’s no information about what genre Apple is going to pursue. Our question is, does it matter?
It’s possible that Apple might give a teaser of this venture in the September event this year. However, that’s probably a far fetched dream that hopeless romantics like us entertaining in our heads. Apple has obviously declined to comment on the issue, what with their eternal oath to secrecy and all!
However, we can discuss with a lot more certainty how the service might be packaged. Amazon has the Prime service, Netflix has the Premium account. Apple will probably make a premium account for iTunes as well. And with more than a billion devices already registered on iTunes, Apple will have a big advantage going into the market.
But even with such a large user base, the Apple TV received a fairly lukewarm welcome. And, with the Apple TV not doing as well as they would have liked, the company has been on a constant lookout to improve its streaming services. This new venture should go a long way in doing that.
“Since the beginning of television, content differentiation has been the single most important element driving the business,” Blair Westlake, former chairman of Universal TV told The Street. “Apple undoubtedly recognized that offering programming that is only available on iTunes is a ‘must have,’ just as it is for mainstream TV.”
That Apple delivers high-quality products is an irrefutable fact of life. We can only imagine what strict standards it will hold its TV shows to. Who would have thought that the next show to break the records of Breaking Bad would come from Apple!
