Apple’s TV streaming service will feature mostly partner content at launch: report

It looks like Apple’s often-rumored original content won’t hit the tech giant’s upcoming streaming service at launch, with the majority of its original television shows and movies releasing at a later date.

With an approaching deadline of this Friday, Bloomberg says that Apple is still in the process of finalizing deals with established premium television content providers like HBO, Showtime and Starz.

It’s unlikely that Apple’s service will feature all this additional content in the Canadian version of its streaming service as Bell holds the rights to HBO’s content in Canada after signing an agreement back in 2015.

Further, Showtime content remains mostly exclusive to Bell, following a deal that was signed in 2015 between the two companies. That said, popular Showtime television show Shameless is available on Netflix in Canada.

Starz is in a similar situation, with the premium television service signing an “exclusive long-term alliance” in January 2018 to bring its content to Canada. Bell recently announced that all of Starz’s content on Crave will cost an additional $5.99 per month as of March 1st.

As a result of these Canada-specific content deals, it’s possible Apple could plan to delay the release of its streaming service in the Canadian market until its original content is ready to roll out. On the other hand, there’s also a likelihood these deals aren’t entirely exclusive and that Apple could be able to license at least some content from HBO, Showtime and Starz.

Apple reportedly has a variety of original television shows in the works from various producers and directors, including Stephen Spielberg’s Amazing Stories, an untilted M. Night Shyamalan drama and an untitled Brie Larson CIA drama series.

Along with its streaming service, Apple is also expected to reveal a credit card that is codenamed ‘Project Cookie,’ according to Bloomberg. Apple also will have have a news subscription platform built out of Texture, an app the company purchased from Rogers back in 2018.

Source: Bloomberg 

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