E4 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019 LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR
ing up to the launch of Apple’s
subscription streaming serv-
ice, Apple TV+, the pair
elaborated on those values.
“Simple ideas that al-
lowed you to go deeper and
express yourself more,” Van
Amburg said. “[It’s] sort of at
the core of a lot of what [Ap-
ple] products do. They feel
simple, but they allow you to
do incredibly complex
things.”
“We had a very diverse
representation of shows on
the wall, and it wasn’t about
what [were] our favorite
shows,” Erlicht said. “It be-
came a psychological exami-
nation of, ‘Whyis that your fa-
vorite show? What are the
various levels that you enjoy
watching for?’ Because we
got obscure shows that very
few people had ever seen, but
to the individual, they spoke
on a deeper level — and that’s
what we really started honing
in on. Like, ‘OK, we need to
find the subtext. We need to
find the deeper levels. We
need to find the additional
meaning in our shows be-
cause that’s what resonates
with people.’ ”
What Apple defines as
that “deeper level” — and
whether it translates for view-
ers already inundated with
content from a proliferating
number of platforms — will
determine whether the Sili-
con Valley mammoth, whose
gadgets draw lines that snake
around its stores, can become
a major force in entertain-
ment too. The first crop of
projects (nine in total) that
executives felt aligned with
this set of guiding principles
makes its debut Friday with
Apple TV+ — several years
after Netflix, Amazon and
Hulu established themselves
as key players in TV, not to
mention regular Emmy con-
tenders. The ad-free sub-
scription service will be avail-
able in more than 100 coun-
tries. There’s a lot riding on
the strength of Apple’s initial
slate, which must lure sub-
scribers to the $4.99-a-month
service. Unlike the Big Three
streaming veterans or new
entrants like HBO Max and
Disney+, Apple’s service
doesn’t include a a deep
bench of popular library titles
such as “Friends,” “The Gold-
en Girls” or even “Lizzie Mc-
Guire” to help buoy its limited
offerings at launch.
“We’re focusing only on
high-quality, original con-
tent,” Erlicht said. “We’re not
focusing on library. We’re not
focusing on any other
agenda. We think that’s
where the real opportunity is.
We think the other networks,
especially at this volume,
[have] more of a spread-out
focus, and therefore we can
event-ize better than any-
one.” In addition to children’s
and family programming, the
company’s first batch of pre-
mieres features a number of
adult-oriented series aimed
at making it a player in the
prestige TV arena — one fa-
miliar to Erlicht and Van Am-
burg, who previously worked
together at Sony TV, where
they shepherded shows like
AMC’s “Breaking Bad” and
“Better Call Saul.”The slate
will expand moderately over
the next year, with program-
ming from M. Night Shya-
malan, J.J. Abrams and Da-
mien Chazelle.
“We wanted to be leaders
and we wanted to be innova-
tive and show up differently,”
Van Amburg said. “I think
that’s why our shows feel
unique. I hope they don’t feel
like we’re following in the
footsteps of something else.”Forging a new path
Whether prospective Ap-
ple TV+ subscribers will
agree remains to be seen. But
the reaction of the critics,
which plays a vital role in
shaping the profile of pres-
tige series, has been tepid.
“The Morning Show” has
garnered decidedly mixed
reviews despite its timely
subject matter — allegations
of sexual misconduct that
upend a morning news show
— and high-profile cast,
which features Jennifer Anis-
ton, Reese Witherspoon and
Steve Carell. Other Apple se-
ries available at launch came
in for similar treatment.Some critics were con-
founded by the tone of “Dick-
inson,” a historical coming-
of-age comedy starring Hai-
lee Steinfeld as poet Emily
Dickinson; “See,” an epic sci-
fi drama led by Jason Momoa
set in a world where humans
have lost their sight, has
faced criticism of its strange
plot choices.
Leading the charge to
build Apple into a formidable
player in Hollywood is a
climb Erlicht and Van Am-
burg recognize has only just
begun: “We had to scale
something from nothing,”
Van Amburg said.
The pair said they didn’t
think of the Apple TV+
viewer in any ideal terms or
target demographics — in-
stead viewing their core audi-
ence as anyone ages 2 and up.
“We don’t think of it in
terms of a singular demo,”
Van Amburg said. “We think
of it in terms of: How do we
make sure that there’s some-
thing consistently showing
up for you, whoever you are,
however you define your
taste? That has been the
greatest opportunity and the
greatest challenge.”
And while they had access
to internal data about what
types of TV and film pro-
gramming people rent or buy
from iTunes, the executives
claimed it didn’t inform how
they identified the types of
projects they should pursue.
“We’re genuinely commit-
ted to our privacy policy,” Van
Amburg said. “And because
of that, we don’t profile indi-viduals and customers. And I
think that has actually been
the most exciting part of this,
which is, ‘Let’s go with our
gut, let’s go with emotion. ...
You certainly hear at other
places, other platforms,
about algorithms and analyt-
ics. We don’t lead with that ...
that really isn’t the core of
what we’re doing.” When Er-
licht and Van Amburg first
put out the word that Apple
would begin producing origi-
nal shows, the pair acknowl-
edged that the company’s
profile didn’t necessarily
stand on its own.
“I personally was sur-
prised by the number of ques-
tions and the amount of con-
cern about something new,”
Van Amburg said. “Every-
body had an affinity for Apple
and knew the excellence that
had come before, but that
didn’t necessarily translate
for everyone as it relates to a
new business. ... That actually
took some doing.
“It took some credibility
from having worked with a lot
of people for years and done
some [shows] that audiences
enjoyed. It took a lot of per-
sonal promise that we were
going to show up. ... Certainly,
in the early days, we weren’t
sharing a release date and ex-
actly what our distribution
strategy was, or even the
name of the service. A sur-
prising amount of time was
spent on the defensive. What
we realized is that we work in
an industry that sometimes
leads with a certain amount
of distrust for [the] new.”But many creators came
on board, intrigued by the no-
tion of making entertain-
ment for the world’s richest
tech company.
“What I liked about the
meeting with Apple is that
they were just starting out,”
“See” creator Steven Knight
told The Times by telephone.
“I always like to be there, or
thereabouts, when some-
thing new happens.” Holly-
wood companies are spend-
ing millions of dollars to woo
top-tier talent to create dis-
tinctive programming, and
Apple is expected to spend $1
billion to $2 billion a year on
its original content efforts.
Attracting A-list creators
also means offering a surplus
of artistic freedom, Apple’s
approach to which has come
under close scrutiny. Earlier
this year, The Times reported
on concerns about executive
micromanagement and over-
emphasis on star power in
Apple TV+ shows. Earlier
this summer, there were also
reports that Apple told crea-
tors to avoid portraying
China in a negative light.
“Yes, we give notes. Yes,
we are creatively engaged,”
Van Amburg said when asked
about reports of interference
in the creative process. “[The
notes] are hopefully helpful
and thoughtful. I can’t think
of an instance where we
didn’t ultimately side with
the visionary who had to be
the one responsible for being
excited about telling a story.
Audiences can feel when it’s
someone’s true voice andSTREAMING WARS
Apple’s plan to win over audiences
“SEE,”a sci-fi drama led by Jason Momoa set in a world where humans have lost their sight, is on Apple TV+.Murray CloseApple[Programming,from E1] they can feel, again, that puri-
ty of intent. If that’s not there
— if it feels like a brand is dic-
tating to what something
creative should be, and what
it should look like — that’s
not the definition of true cre-
ative partnership. And this
place stands for authenticity
and artistic integrity. We are
involved in the creative proc-
ess, but never to the point
that you’re changing that vi-
sion.” “Dickinson” creator
Alena Smith acknowledged
that there were points of dis-
agreement but said ulti-
mately she felt satisfied by
the process.
“I’m not going to pretend
it didn’t take incredible
strength to for me to get
through this process and
fight on behalf of my work,”
Smith said by phone. “But I
also feel I had champions in-
side Apple. I’m just as inter-
ested as everybody in this
whole kind of evolving new
landscape, and I think I knew
what contribution I wanted
‘Dickinson’ to make, and I
was fighting along with my
team for that. And so we’ll
see. As you know, Apple has
been very secretive in general
about all this. I haven’t seen
any of the other shows. But I
feel, without any reservation,
I made the show that I
wanted to make.”
Kerry Ehrin, who re-
placed the original “The
Morning Show” showrunner,
said there was no proverbial
Apple school to attend:
“They weren’t saying like,
‘Here’s what you can say, and
here’s our brand.’ ”
Thinking long-term
It’s an open question
whether a clear program-
ming “brand” is even achiev-
able in an age of TV when
viewers are toggling among
devices, channels and sub-
scriptions. But analysts are
bullish on the service’s poten-
tial in the streaming market.
Wedbush Securities analyst
Daniel Ives predicts the serv-
ice will have more than 100
million subscribers within its
first three years, while Mor-
gan Stanley analyst Katy Hu-
berty predicted in a recent
note that the service will have
more than 130 million sub-
scribers by 2025.
For their part, Erlicht and
Van Amburg are conserva-
tive about setting expecta-
tions.
“What happens Nov. 1, in
terms of the success of what
we’re building, is such a
small, small, small factor,”
Erlicht said. “The reality is,
there’s no information that’s
going to come [Friday] that’s
going to be an indicator of the
wild success of this service
that’s going to happen over
time.”and Ronald D. Moore’s space
epic “For All Mankind” have
cost Apple at least $20 million
since September, according
to an estimate by ad analytics
firm MediaRadar. Apple has
also posted billboards in L.A.
featuring new shows includ-
ing the coming-of-age drama
“Dickinson,” starring Hailee
Steinfeld as the famed poet.
On Monday, Aniston and
Witherspoon displayed their
news hosting chops on ABC’s
“Good Morning America” be-
fore taking questions from
“GMA” anchors Robin Rob-
erts and George Stephan-
opoulos about their collabo-
ration on the program.
In perhaps its boldest pro-
motional gambit, Apple is lit-
erally giving the service away
to customers. People who
purchase an Apple device are
eligible for a free yearlong
subscription to Apple TV+,
which will normally cost
about $5 a month.
The freebies, analysts
said, represent an aggressive
move by Apple to take on Net-
flix, Walt Disney Co., AT&T’s
WarnerMedia and others in
the streaming video market,
where competition is getting
increasingly fierce.
Apple TV+ is launching
less than two weeks before
Disney unveils its much-an-
ticipated Disney+ service,
powered by popular enter-
tainment brands including
“Star Wars,” Marvel and
Pixar. At a major investor
event at the Warner Bros. stu-
dio lot in Burbank, Warn-
erMedia on Tuesday detailed
plans for its HBO Max serv-
ice, which will debut in May.
“They’re going pretty ag-
gressively on the promotional
side just to get people in, and
they’re hoping a year from
now you’ll continue to sign
up,” said Evan Niu, senior
technology specialist at the
Motley Fool. “Apple’s very
aware that they’re coming
from behind in streaming vi-
deo, compared to Netflix and
Disney.”
Though it’s a newcomer to
Hollywood, Apple enjoys se-
rious advantages in the en-
tertainment business, in-
cluding ample cash reserves
and a loyal network of more
than 900 million mobile
phone users. Apple TV+ is
going after potential custom-
ers with a low price of $4.99 a
month, less than the $6.99-a-
month Disney will charge for
Disney+ and the $12.99 a
month Netflix charges for its
most popular plan.
But Apple also faces
daunting challenges, includ-
ing mixed early reviews for its
shows, an absence of popular
library content and a min-
imal track record producing
shows. “The Morning Show”
and “See,” a sci-fi epic star-
ring “Game of Thrones” actor
Jason Momoa, have received
uneven reviews. And rivals
have spent billions not only to
create original content but
also to lock down rights to
such oldies as “Friends,” “Se-
infeld” and “The Office.”
Apple will launch with
nine programs, led by “The
Morning Show,” for which
Apple paid more than $200
million for two seasons. ,
Its programming strategy
is led by veteran TV execu-
tives Zack Van Amburg and
Jamie Erlicht, who joined
from Sony Pictures Televi-
sion two years ago.
The executives say they
are focused on high-quality
original content. Apple is ex-
pected to initially spend $1
billion to $2 billion annuallyon its original content efforts,
a fraction of the $15 billion
Netflix is projected to spend
on content this year but simi-
lar to Disney’s programming
investment for streaming.
The Burbank entertainment
giant expects to spend more
than $1 billion on original
content in 2020, increasing to
about $2.5 billion in 2024.
“The stage is set for a truly
exciting debut,” Apple Chief
Executive Tim Cook said
about Apple TV+ in a call
with investors. “It’s a gift to
our users, and from a busi-
ness point of view, we’re really
proud of the content.”
The company on Wednes-
day reported revenue of $64
billion in its fourth quarter,
up 2% from a year ago, be-
cause of an increase in sales
of iPads, wearables and serv-
ices such as Apple Music. Netincome declined about 3% to
nearly $13.7 billion, compared
to a year ago.
Apple shares were virtu-
ally flat Wednesday, falling 3
cents to $243.26. The stock’s
value has increased more
than 50% this year, according
to Factset.
Like other tech compa-
nies that have waded into
Hollywood, including Face-
book and Google’s YouTube,
Apple has experienced strug-
gles. Apple’s growing pains in
the content business were on
display last year, when the
company frustrated some
creatives by asking them to
edit shows to be more family
friendly, according to people
familiar with the matter. Ap-
ple in September scrapped a
dark Richard Gere drama
over concerns about the
show’s depiction of vigilantejustice, according to the Hol-
lywood Reporter.
“No one says the best
movies come from Apple to-
day,” said Todd Krizelman,
chief executive of Media-
Radar. “They have a real defi-
ciency in terms of changing
perception that they are a
place where you should go to
watch your content.”
Nonetheless, many ana-
lysts are expecting impres-
sive results from Apple TV+,
noting the company’s vast
mobile network and avid fan
base. Morgan Stanley analyst
Katy Huberty, in a recent re-
search report, estimated that
Apple TV+ could attract 136
million subscribers by 2025,
representing 11% of Apple’s
user base. At that level, the
service would generate nearly
$9 billion in annual revenue.
By the end of fiscal 2020, Hu-
berty projected Apple TV+
will have nearly 11 million paid
subscribers, as well as 23 mil-
lion people who redeem the
free trial offer, giving it a big
running start. Huberty, who
has a buy rating on Apple’s
stock, wrote that pricing and
bundling strategy will be key
to its early success. An esti-
mated 250 million Apple de-
vices will be sold in the next
fiscal year, including Apple
TVs, iPod Touches, iPads,
iPhones and Macs. They will
come with the option to re-
ceive the service for free.
“This aggressive ap-
proach came as a surprise to
the market and makes the
service a viable ... competi-
tor,” Huberty wrote in the
Oct. 22 report. “The key ques-
tions from here are: How big
can TV+ get, and how will it
impact the Apple financial
model?”
Customer loyalty will also
be a major factor, as it waswith Apple Music, said Wed-
bush Securities analyst Dan-
iel Ives. Wedbush, which has
an “outperform” rating on
Apple stock, predicts Apple
TV+ will grow to 104 million
subscribers by 2023, despite
the initial dearth of content.
“Apple recognizes it’s now or
never in terms of jumping
into the deep end of the pool
with streaming,” Ives said.
The streaming service is
part of a broader revamp of
Apple’s approach to enter-
tainment. The company this
year began phasing out
iTunes in favor of its Apple
Music and Apple TV apps.
Earlier this year, Apple
launched a new version of its
TV app, which centralized
subscriptions to Hulu, Ama-
zon, HBO and other stream-
ing services into a streaming
hub for consumers on Apple
devices.
Apple’s services business,
which includes the new Ap-
ple Card, Apple Music and
Apple News+, is expected to
exceed $50 billion in sales by
2020, hitting the goal set by
Cook.
Kelli Richards, a former
Apple executive who is now
chief executive of digital mu-
sic and entertainment indus-
try consultancy the All Ac-
cess Group, said Apple’s
main goal is not to become
the next Netflix but rather to
draw more people to use Ap-
ple devices and stay in its
software ecosystem.
That means Apple’s suc-
cess may be less dependent
on the quantity of shows,
compared to Disney and Net-
flix. “They live or die with the
content and their business
models,” Richards said of Ap-
ple’s rivals. “For Apple, this is
one more spoke on the wheel
with their ecosystem.”Millions are being spent; what’s the return?
“DICKINSON,”with Hailee Steinfeld as the 19th
century poet, is helping to launch Apple TV+.Apple Original / AppleTV+[Promotion, from E1]