Top Bananas | Tag Archives: Apple TV

Apple’s March 25 Event

Posted on March 12, 2019 by admin Posted in Business, Hardware Leave a comment

What it is: Apple announced a March 25 event that will likely focus on their news subscription service and TV shows.

Apple TV is just another way to stream content to a TV set. What could make Apple TV different from its numerous competitors is unique content.

Netflix and Hulu learned this long ago that they needed unique content to attract more subscribers because if they simply showed the same TV shows and movies as everyone else, there would be little reason for anyone to subscribe to their services. By offering unique content, Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu have turned themselves into a studio rivaling the big TV networks.

Now Apple is jumping into the game and they’ll likely introduce a new Apple TV model as well since the last Apple TV came out in September 2017. To go along with the new Apple TV, Apple will introduce their new streaming content.

The real key is whether Apple device owners will get this streaming content for free or whether they’ll need to pay a subscription fee. If Apple allows Apple product owners to watch their streaming content for free, they’ll guarantee a much larger number of viewers and help further cement the loyalty of Apple owners, making it harder for them to switch to rival products.

Right now, Apple TV is just a minor product that’s still trying to find its purpose much like HomePod. Adding unique content will help Apple TV, but whether it will be enough to differentiate Apple TV from rivals still remains to be seen.

Show business is a much harder business to predict than hardware or software sales, so Apple is venturing into unknown territory. Perhaps Apple should merge with Disney’s new streaming service to develop into a major powerhouse that few rivals could match.

Until then, expect Apple’s streaming content to be interesting but no game-changer. This March 25 event should be interesting for Apple TV users who want a new model, but for anyone else, this Apple event won’t hold much interest beyond streaming video content and news magazine subscriptions.

Apple TV Should Be Disney

Posted on September 27, 2018 by admin Posted in Business Leave a comment

What it is: Apple is only going to produce shows with family-friendly content.

Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon all knew that they had to create their own content so they created shows like “Game of Thrones” and “Orange is the New Black.” However, Apple wants to create their own content too, but they don’t want shows that might reflect negatively on the Apple name. That’s why Apple is focusing solely on family-friendly material.

Essentially, Apple wants to mimic Disney. There’s nothing wrong with that strategy. It’s just that Apple must constantly walk a fine line between creative freedom and family-friendly limitations while Netflix and Amazon along with HBO do not have any similar limitations. If Apple wants to focus on family-friendly content, they’re essentially duplicating the strategy of Disney.

So rather than duplicate the strategy of Disney, wouldn’t it make more sense to simply work together? Disney already owns Pixar and Steve Jobs helped create Pixar so Apple already has a good relationship with Disney. Rather than compete against Disney, it makes far more sense for Apple to work with Disney. Of course, partnerships can only work best when both sides can trust the other and that rarely happens in the long run. That means it’s probably in Apple’s best interests to simply use the Disney name.

Rumors have surfaced in the past about Apple buying Disney. That might not be such a bad idea considering that Disney owns so many properties from The Lion King and Mickey Mouse to everything Pixar has made to their theme parks. Apple could acquire Disney and simply keep it a separate name and company. Then Apple could just use Disney’s content.

The other alternative is for both Apple and Disney to promote their family-friendly content and compete against each other while also competing against Amazon and Netflix. With their lack of sex and violence, Apple and Disney simply can’t compete against some rival shows so it makes far more sense for the two companies to work together.

It’s unlikely Disney could ever buy Apple but it seems likely that Apple could buy Disney. The big question is if it’s worth the cost and headache of running a huge company separate from their computer business. Then again, Apple could simply own a minority stake in Disney to improve their business relationship.

Whatever the case, Apple and Disney are working together or competing against each other. Against Netflix and Amazon, it makes far more sense to work together than compete against each other. Watch Disney. They have valuable content that any company would love to feature, and it only makes sense to have a single family-friendly content creator rather than two.

To read about Apple’s focus on family-friendly content, click here.

Apple Creating Content with Sesame Workshop

Posted on June 20, 2018 by admin Posted in Business Leave a comment

What it is: Apple signed an agreement to create kids programs with Sesame Workshop.

Apple needs original content or else Apple TV will just be another commodity TV device. Original content means creating shows that can only be seen by subscribing to a particular service such as Netflix, Hulu, or now Apple. While Apple is unlikely to pursue any R-rated shows, they do seem interested in family entertainment. That’s why Apple has partnered with Sesame Workshop to create children’s programs.

Sesame Workshop is best known for creating “Sesame Street.” While Sesame Street won’t be exclusive to Apple, Sesame Workshop will create exclusive content separately for Apple. that includes live-action and animated shows. Most likely these shows will focus on educational content but this is just one more effort by Apple to create family-friendly content exclusively for Apple TV and other Apple products. If you want to see these new shows, you’ll have to subscribe to Apple’s new TV services.

Apple is likely focusing on the G and PG-rated market so families will trust Apple content in much the same way that families trust Disney’s content to be suitable for children. Of course, it doesn’t mater who Apple partners with if the content they create isn’t appealing to others, but that’s the chance Apple (and every other content provider like Netflix) must take. For every show that succeeds, a larger number will fail. That’s just the nature of original TV programming.

So look for original content coming from Apple and Sesame Workshop soon. Then hope that Apple’s original content actually proves compelling enough to convince people to sign up and pay a monthly fee. Apple will likely field a lot of misses and near disasters before finally discovering a blockbuster hit.

Apple Inks Deal with Oprah Winfrey

Posted on June 15, 2018 by admin Posted in Business, Marketing Leave a comment

What it is: Apple signed a deal with Oprah Winfrey to bring her content to Apple products.

Oprah Winfrey is a powerful woman who can create content in video and books. That’s why Apple recently signed a deal to access any future content Oprah creates or acquires the right to. That could mean future Oprah TV shows or movies could appear on Apple TV and future Oprah books could appear on Apple’s bookstore.

Apple has been aggressively pursuing original content for Apple TV because without it, Apple TV is just a commodity, offering the same thing that everyone else offers. Commodity markets are the least profitable markets. Just witness the android smartphone market where Samsung makes most of the money and all other Android device makers lose money. Making products that lose money is simply not sustainable in the long run.

Without original content, Apple TV offered little to attract customers. Now with more Hollywood deals including the latest with Oprah Winfrey, Apple can differentiate themselves from their rivals. Just as Netflix and Hulu have created original TV shows, so does Apple TV need original content that Oprah can provide. Any content created or endorsed by Oprah will immediately attract a huge following simply based on her name alone. Most likely any content endorsed by Oprah will be decent but the quality is far less important than Oprah’s name attached to it because Oprah’s name and following will insure that her content will be widely publicized and viewed.

Apple may be late to the original content market that Netflix and Amazon helped pioneer, but it has the money to stay in the market and outbid rivals for original content. This latest deal with Oprah will simply help Apple TV get started and compete against rivals. Now we just have to wait and see how good Oprah’s content really might be.

Apple Lands Isaac Asimov “Foundation” TV Series

Posted on April 10, 2018 by admin Posted in Business Leave a comment

What it is: Apple won the bidding war for the rights to Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” novels for a TV series.

Apple needs exclusive content for Apple TV to make it worth people buying. Apple’s first attempts at exclusive content revolved around lame shows like “Planet of the Apps” that nobody cared about. That’s why Apple has been busy bidding for new shows. One of their earliest bids include a reboot of the “Amazing Stories” anthology series that originally aired in the 80’s, along with an unnamed morning news drama show starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.

However, Apple needs must-see shows like “Game of Thrones,” but that means supporting several shows, knowing that only a few will actually succeed. That’s why Apple has spent money to bid on proven show concepts like Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” trilogy that will be turned into a TV series.

Science fiction fans know and love this “Foundation” trilogy that defined an early era of science fiction, which influenced future stories like “Star Wars.” By owning the rights to Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” novels for airing as a TV series, Apple has gained their first original show that has a built-in audience that will want to watch it. Whether the TV series is any good is irrelevant at this point. Just the name of Isaac Asimov and the “Foundation” trilogy will be enough to attract an audience. Then the show’s quality will have to keep people watching.

Apple needs to take a two-pronged approach to exclusive content. First, they need to keep gambling on unknown shows that have the potential of becoming hits like “Orange is the New Black”. Second, they need to keep pursuing stories based on proven content like “Game of Thrones” or “The Walking Dead,” which was based on a graphic novel. Constantly pursuing original content and hoping it will turn into a hit show is risky, so the safest bet is to keep paying for TV shows based on proven content. That means creating TV shows based on novels, movies (like “Westworld”), comic books, or old TV shows. That also means paying for those rights.

Apple can’t afford to offer lame content like “Planet of the Apps” so they have no choice but to start spending billions gambling on new TV shows every year. Some will succeed but most will fail, and that’s the way original TV programming works. Apple can’t predict what will work so they can only gamble like everyone else trying to find the magic show that will skyrocket to popularity overnight. Nobody knows this formula other than to keep creating new content and hoping for the best.

Jumping into original content is the only way Apple can make Apple TV unique. The only question is how long will it take until Apple finally has a “Game of Thrones”-like hit on their hands?

The Future is Streaming

Posted on March 20, 2018 by admin Posted in Business Leave a comment

What it is: The 12th edition of Deloitte’s Digital Media Trends Survey found that 55 percent of U.S. households now subscribe to at least one streaming service, and the average streaming video subscriber is paying for three services.

At one time, Apple owned the music industry through audio downloads on iTunes. Then streaming music appeared and killed the audio download business. Streaming is the future because it’s faster and more convenient than buying and handling physical media like CDs or DVDs. That’s why video rental stores are mostly gone.

Apple largely missed the boat on streaming audio and had to acquire Beats for $3 billion dollars to get back into the streaming music industry. Now with Netflix leading the way for streaming video, Apple is late once again to jumping into the streaming video business.

Fortunately for Apple, the streaming video industry is still fairly new and with people subscribing to multiple services, they’ll likely include any Apple streaming service in with Hulu or Netflix subscriptions as well. With Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and Apple producing original content along with HBO, the future points to multiple streaming video subscriptions to access original content on all of them. In comparison, streaming audio essentially offers the same music everywhere so once you find one streaming audio service you like, there’s no point in subscribing to another one.

That means streaming video is the future and all those DVDs collecting dust and taking up space will simply fade away over time. Remember Blu-ray? Apple refused to offer Blu-ray drives in their computers and initially this seemed like a mistake. Now it makes perfect sense because physical media is going away.

So expect a future of paying for video streaming services where each service offering unique content of its own to attract subscribers. Just as nobody only watched CBS or NBC shows at the exclusion of the other networks, few people are going to subscribe to a single video streaming service. That’s good news for all video streaming services because that means they can attract the same customers. Video streaming to smartphones and tablets will be the crucial link to let you watch shows anywhere you want. That’s already happening but with faster Internet access on WiFi, this can be more common with less gnashing of teeth with slow Internet connections and lagging video.

How many streaming video services can survive? Most likely just a handful of the larger companies like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and Apple. Anyone else will likely get steamrolled into oblivion or acquired so it’s a good time to be working for large video streaming companies and not a good time to be working for smaller ones unless they can offer something unique that will make them an attractive acquisition target.

The future is streaming whether it’s music or video. That much is clear. What that means for the traditional networks (ABC, NBC, and CBS) and the traditional Hollywood studios remains to be seen.