Apple is finally set to join the video streaming TV wars as Apple Inc. gets ready to announce its original content plans on Monday at its "Show Time" event.
Apple Inc. is joining the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) race that will add yet another option for video content consumers globally and in a market like South Africa and Africa where video streaming services like MultiChoice's Showmax, Netflix South Africa, Amazon Prime Video,Viu, Cell C black, Acorn TV, TV2GO and others are battling it out to attract subscribers, with more waiting in the wings like Disney+
Apple sent out invitations to the press for a "special event" on 25 March it calls "Show Time" that will take place inside its Steve Jobs Theater at its Apple Park headquarters in Cupertino, California, strongly hinting that it will be about Apple's video content service.
Please join us for an Apple special event— Matthew Panzarino (@panzer) March 11, 2019
at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino.
March 25, 2019
10:00 a.m.
The email played a short film reel countdown animation on opening. pic.twitter.com/a2COFjMIpA
Monday morning's event at 10:00 in California will be live-streamed globally from 19:00 South African time.
Apple has invested over $1 billion the past year in commissioning original TV shows, chasing Netflix and Amazon Studios is ramping up the production of TV series and attaching big name producers from Steven Spielberg to Oprah Winfrey.
Apple has already announced projects and investments in a flurry of over 20 brand-new scripted TV shows that will add to the avalanche of content on existing SVOD services and the TV channels carried on the services of traditional pay-TV operators.
Nobody knows exactly what Apple's video content streaming strategy is and whether Apple will announce a Netflix-like service for Apple TV or a pay-TV service, whether TV shows will be made available for free for users of Apple devices, or how its distribution will work - through its own apps or using existing pay-TV services and platforms.
If Apple is launching it's own streaming service, what will it look like, and how much will it cost?
Here is what Apple has already poured money into - and up until this point, Apple has not publicly released a single on-set still, show publicity photo, image teaser trailer or a second of footage of any of these TV series in development and in production:
Amazing Stories: A new reboot of the science fiction anthology series, again with Steven Spielberg as executive producers.
Are You Sleeping?: A crime series about podcasts of true crime cases with Octavia Spencer and with Reese Witherspoon as executive producers.
Calls: An adaptation of a short-form French series where the emphasis is on audio storytelling.
Central Park: An animated musical comedy.
Defending Jacob: A thriller-adaptation of William Landay's novel with Chris Evans.
Dickson: A growing-up series about the life of the poet Emily Dickinson, with Hailee Steinfeld.
For All Mankind: A science fiction series set in space from Ronald D. Moore.
Foundation: A science fiction series based on the novel series of Isaac Asimov, produced by David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman.
Home: A documentary series about exceptional homes.
Little America: An anthology series revolving around immigrants.
Little Voice: A romantic dramedy series with J.J. Abrams as executive producer.
Losing Earth: A series based on the story of Nathaniel Rich published in The New York Times magazine and as a book about the history of climate activism.
Magic Hour: A mystery series loosely based on the real-life story of Hilde Lysiak.
My Glory Was I Had Such Friends: Jennifer Garner and J.J. Abrams reteam for the first time after Alias for this series based on the life of Amy Silverstein.
Pachinko: A series spanning several generations following a Korean family, based on the novel by Min Jin Lee.
See: A science fiction drama series.
Shantaram: A series based on Gregory David Robert's novel about a man's life in Bombay.
Swagger: A drama series inspired by the life of basketball player Kevin Durant.
The Morning Show: A backstage drama series set behind-the-scenes at a fictional American morning show with Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell.
Time Bandits: A reboot of the classic film by Terry Gilliam.
Untitled Brie Larson series: A drama series based on the life of the undercover CIA-agent Amaryllis Fox.
Untitled Colleen McGuinness series: A comedy series based on Curtis Sittenfeld's You Think It, I'll Say It short story collection.
Untitled Damien Chazelle series.
Untitled M. Night Shyamalan series: M. Night Shyamalan is the executive producer and will be writing the first episode of this thriller-series that will undoubtedly incorporate weird twists.
Untitled Oprah projects: Oprah Winfrey closed a multi-year partnership with Apple to produce an array of original content.
Untitled Snoopy series: Short-form animation series based on the dog character from Peanuts.
Untitled Richard Gere series: A drama series based on the Israeli show Nevelot.
Untitled Rob McElhenny and Charlie Day series: A comedy series revolving around a worker at a video game studio.
Untitled Simon Kinberg and David Weil series: A science fiction series.
