REPORT: A NEW CHANNEL FOR
APPLE TV

The idea that a computer company could create a “new cable TV” sounds like a future plotline on Silicon Valley, but it’s possible Apple is on its way to creating a video platform that more closely mirrors Amazon than the App Store.

Bloomberg reports that Apple plans to begin selling subscriptions to certain video services directly via its TV app, a shift from having users subscribe through individual apps. The goal is to make Apple’s hardware the primary place for viewing and purchasing video content.

Per Bloomberg’s sources, Apple plans to introduce the feature next year.

Video is rolled up into Apple’s service business, the division that also contains iTunes and Apple Music. The company expects to grow it to $50b in annual revenue by 2021 from the $9b grossed last year. Obviously it will take more than hits from Drake to do that.

While iTunes was a leader in the downloads business for video content, it was slow to adapt to streaming and its original content has been slow in arriving and generally niche-oriented, i,e., targeted to music fans.

Considering the amount of money Apple is pouring into original serial content, the new service raises the question of whether the company will be feeding itself with new scripted series—a recent difference-maker for Netflix, Amazon and Hulu—or follow traditional path of selling to networks.

If Apple makes video central to its domain, and it rakes in the cash, what happens to music services and content on the fringe like deep catalog or less popular genres? Do they go the way or the original iPod? Stay tuned.