Apple is partnering with the kiddie content company WildBrain and Peanuts Worldwide to create a new CG-animated Peanuts feature film, which will go into production in 2024.

Since 2018, Apple TV Plus has been the exclusive U.S. TV home to the largest library of Peanuts animated shows, including iconic holiday specials It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (with free viewing Nov. 18-19), and A Charlie Brown Christmas (free viewing Dec. 16-17), among others.

The latest addition to the Peanuts franchise follows the departure last month of former Pixar impresario John Lasseter and Skydance Animation, which shifted over to Netflix following the expiration of an output deal with Apple. 

It also arrives as Apple once again upped monthly pricing -- to $9.99 a month this time — for its premium SVOD service, Apple TV Plus. 

The new film will follow Charlie Brown and his famous beagle, Snoopy, as they adventure to the Big City, meeting some surprising new friends along the way. Two-time Oscar nominee Bonnie Arnold will produce the project alongside Steve Martino, who will return to direct again after 2015’s The Peanuts Movie.

The growing collection of Peanuts specials and series on Apple TV Plus includes Emmy-nominated Snoopy in Space, a series of animated shorts featuring Snoopy as he fulfills his dream of becoming an astronaut. Also featured is The Snoopy Show and Emmy Award-winning documentary Who Are You, Charlie Brown?, honoring the franchise’s creator Charles Schulz.

“With our unmatched library of Peanuts titles, and award-winning collection of stories that bring kids and families together, Apple TV Plus is the preeminent home for Snoopy and friends, and offers a world-class selection of series and films featuring the most globally cherished animated characters,” Tara Sorensen, Apple’s head of children’s programming, said in a statement.

DirecTV said that the Apple TV app, and by extension, the Apple TV Plus subscription streaming service, are now supported by the proprietary DirecTV Stream Android TV-based set-top. 

Users of the Apple TV and Apple TV 4K connected TV devices, as well as iOS mobile phones and tablets, have been able to use the DirecTV Stream app to watch their virtual pay TV subscription on their Apple gadgets for some time. 

But this is the first time DirecTV Stream users can use the Apple TV app on the CPE leased to them by DirecTV. 

This latest arrangement seems to signal a stepped up level of collaboration between Apple and DirecTV.

Last month, the pair announced that Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass and Friday Night Baseball packages will be available in thousands of restaurants, bars and other establishments via DirecTV for Business. ■

Season two of See, a post-apocalyptic drama starring Jason Momoa, premieres on Apple TV Plus Aug. 27. New episodes debut each Friday. 

Dave Bautista and Alfre Woodard are also in the cast. 

See is set in what Apple TV Plus calls “a brutal and primitive future, hundreds of years after humankind has lost the ability to see.” Season two sees Momoa’s Baba Voss struggling to reunite his family while protecting them as war looms between the Kingdom of Paya and the Trivantian Republic. Despite his efforts, his wife and sighted children are pulled to the war’s front lines, where they come to the attention of Baba’s estranged brother, Edo (Bautista), a powerful and cunning Trivantian general. Edo’s hatred for his brother imperils them all even further. 

Season two is executive produced by Steven Knight, Francis Lawrence, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Jim Rowe and Jonathan Tropper, who is also showrunner. Tropper created Warrior, which airs on HBO Max, and Banshee, which ran on Cinemax. 

See is produced by Chernin Entertainment and Endeavor Content.

This article was updated on 8/13/2021 to account for official subscriber numbers released by Disney.

So how is that quest to catch up with Netflix going in the race for global direct-to-consumer subscriber scale?

A perfect gauge of this competition is hard to come by, since the metrics are all sliced and diced so differently among technology, media and telecom companies. But here’s an imperfect snapshot of where things stand. 

Legend

* Amazon said during its Q1 earnings call that 175 million Prime members had “streamed TV shows and movies in the past year.” It’s tough to determine how many of those Prime members are active users of the SVOD service. Notably, this figure doesn’t account for Amazon’s growing legion of ad-supported streaming users through IMDb TV, or those who rent movies and TV shows through Amazon’s transactional service. 

** Disney Plus ended Disney’s fiscal Q3 with 116 million subscribers globally, adding to the 39.1 million reported for Hulu and the 13.9 million counted for ESPN Plus.

*** WarnerMedia said it finished Q2 with 67.5 million HBO subscribers across HBO Max and HBO linear platforms worldwide. Discovery Inc., meanwhile, said it closed the quarter with 18 million direct-to-consumer customers globally. The spinoff and merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery isn’t nearly closed, but we combined their global DTC numbers, anyway. 

***** ViacomCBS said it added 6.5 million global streaming subscribers across platforms including Paramount Plus and Showtime in the second quarter, closing the three-month period with 42 million DTC customers. 

^ Apple made a rare specific mention of Apple TV Plus during its second quarter earnings call, but it would only say that its global subscriber ranks across its vast service portfolio had increased by 150 million year over year to 700 million. In May, Ampere Analysis published data suggesting that Apple TV Plus has around 40 million paid subscribers. That remains all we have to go on.

^^ NBCUniversal reported 54 million signups for Peacock as of the end of Q2. However, a year after its national launch, the streaming service—which combines SVOD and AVOD tiers—has only 20 million active users. That will change soon, with the rollout of Peacock on Sky in Europe. Note that again, this exercise is highly imperfect, and our benchmarking of NBCU relative to others on the chart reflects that. For example, we benchmark Amazon Prime Video on the sheer number of Prime members who've used the service at least once in the last year, not on active users (a figure we don't have). If we ply the same standard to NBCU, the number becomes 54 million.

Vying for the title of Least Transparent in a streaming video business that's notoriously tightlipped about programming performance, subscriber metrics and just about every other interesting data point you can think of, Apple CEO Tim Cook took a moment from his company's boffo third-quarter earnings report to tout some of Apple TV Plus' standout shows. 

"Apple TV plus users are loving series like Mythic Quest and anticipating groundbreaking films like CODA, which premieres next month," Cook said, after reporting a 36% year-over-year uptick in quarterly revenue to $81.4 billion. 

Profits $21.7 billion, an all-time high for Apple's spring quarter, on brisk 5G-capable iPhone 12 sales. In fact, iPhone revenue was up 50% year over year to $39.6 billion during the April-June period. 

"And of course, Ted Lasso kicked off Season 2 just last week and continues to win over viewers with its heartwarming message about the power of community, compassion and hope," Cook added. 

Cook's comments came a day after Apple announced that the Season 2 debut of Ted Lasso last Friday produced Apple TV Plus' biggest premiere numbers ever ... without disclosing any numbers. 

Ted Lasso, a comedy staring Jason Sudeikis as an American football coach from Kansas who steps in to coach big-league UK soccer, scored 20 of Apple TV Plus' 35 Emmy nominations earlier this month.

Mythic Quest, a workplace comedy produced by the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia team, and also starring core member Rob McElhenney as the creative leader of an online video game company, received just two minor Emmy noms. But critics have been unanimous in their praise, evidenced by the 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. 

As for CODA, it was a buzz film at the Sundance Film Festival that Apple picked up for a record-setting $25 million.

Of course, when your market capitalization hovers just below $2.5 trillion, and subscription video is just this thing you do to entice consumers to buy things like iPhone 12s, you say only what you need to say. 

All in all, "cloud services, a grouping that includes Apple TV Plus, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Card, Apple Fitness+, as well as the Apple One bundle, saw revenue increase to an all-time high of $17.5 billion in the quarter. Total subscribers for these business reached 700 million, up 150 million from a year ago.

Netflix continued its successful 2021 awards season run, picking up the most Critics Choice Awards wins within the television category during Sunday night's virtual awards ceremony. 

Netflix took home eight Critics Choice Awards to lead all broadcast, cable and streaming services. Netflix was led by The Crown, which won four awards, including best drama series, best actor in a drama series (Josh O’Connor), best actress in a drama series categories (Emma Corrin) and best supporting actress in a drama series (Gillian Anderson). 

Netflix's performance follows its domination of the Golden Globes Awards ceremony last weekend. 

Also Read: Golden Globes: Netflix Dominates TV Categories with 'The Crown,' 'Queen's Gambit'

Apple TV Plus’s Ted Lasso won three awards, including best comedy series, topping Pop TV’s Schitt’s Creek, which won two awards in its final season. Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit also won two awards, including best limited series. 

Overall, streaming services took home more than half of the awards in the TV categories. 

HBO took home two awards, one each for drama series Lovecraft Country and limited series The Undoing.

Netflix also won six awards in the film category, including three for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which included a best actor nod for the late Chadwick Boseman’s performance in the film. The Trial of The Chicago 7 won two awards including best acting ensemble. 

Amazon Studios won three awards, including a best supporting actress win for Maria Bakalova in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and a best editing statuette for Sound of Metal.

The Critics Choice Winners in the television category are as follows:  

BEST DRAMA SERIES

The Crown (Netflix)

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Josh O’Connor – The Crown (Netflix)

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Emma Corrin – The Crown (Netflix)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Michael K. Williams – Lovecraft Country (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Gillian Anderson – The Crown (Netflix)

BEST COMEDY SERIES

Ted Lasso (Apple TV Plus)

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Jason Sudeikis – Ted Lasso (Apple TV Plus)

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Catherine O’Hara – Schitt’s Creek (Pop)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Daniel Levy – Schitt’s Creek (Pop)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Hannah Waddingham – Ted Lasso (Apple TV Plus)

BEST LIMITED SERIES

The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)

BEST TV MOVIE

Hamilton (Disney Plus)

BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE 

John Boyega – Small Axe (Amazon Studios)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE

Anya Taylor-Joy – The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE

Donald Sutherland – The Undoing (HBO)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE

Uzo Aduba – Mrs. America (FX)

BEST TALK SHOW

Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC)

BEST COMEDY SPECIAL

Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill (Netflix)

Michelle Buteau: Welcome to Buteaupia (Netflix)

BEST SHORT FORM SERIES

Better Call Saul: Ethics Training with Kim Wexler (AMC/Youtube)

The Critics Choice Winners in the film category are as follows: 

BEST PICTURE

Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)

BEST ACTOR

Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

BEST ACTRESS

Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Daniel Kaluuya – Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros.)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Amazon Studios)

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

Alan Kim – Minari (A24)

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)

BEST DIRECTOR

Chloé Zhao – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Chloé Zhao – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Joshua James Richards – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale – Mank (Netflix)

BEST EDITING

Alan Baumgarten – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)

Mikkel E. G. Nielsen – Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Ann Roth – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Tenet (Warner Bros.)

BEST COMEDY

Palm Springs (Hulu and NEON)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Minari (A24)

BEST SONG

Speak Now – One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)

BEST SCORE

Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste – Soul (Disney)

The month of February rolls along with several returning series hitting airwaves this week. 

OWN on Feb. 16 will debut season five of its Ava DuVernay-produced drama series Queen Sugar, while Freeform on Feb. 17 will bring back its drama series Good Trouble for its third campaign. 

Also premiering this week is Hulu’s highly-touted movie Nomadland, which stars Frances McDormand as a woman who leaves her small town to travel the country. The film debuts on Hulu and in theaters on Feb. 19.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of Feb.16 to Feb. 21) on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

Feb. 16 -- Temptation Island (reality) -- USA

Feb. 17 -- Amend: The Fight for America (documentary) -- Netflix

Feb. 18 -- The March on Washington: Keepers of the Dream (documentary) -- National Geographic

Feb. 18 -- It’s a Sin (drama) -- HBO Max

Feb. 19 -- I Care a Lot (movie) -- Netflix

Feb. 19 -- For All Mankind (returning series) -- Apple TV+

Feb. 19 -- Tell Me Your Secrets (drama) -- Prime Video

Feb. 21 -- Supervillian: The Making of Tekashl 61x9lne (music) -- Showtime

Feb. 21-- Allen v. Farrow (miniseries) -- HBO

Apple is reported to be mulling the possibility of extending a promotion that gives purchasers of Apple devices free access to its Apple TV Plus streaming service. 

Apple began its promotion on November 1, 2019, the day it launched Apple TV Plus, giving buyers of Macbooks, iPhones and other gadgets 12 months free of the $4.99-a-month subscription platform. 

According to Bloomberg, Apple is thinking about extending the promotion when it expires on Oct. 31, which will be just weeks after it debuts the latest iteration of its iPhone mobile device. If the promotion is brought back, Bloomberg added, it might extend for less than 12 months.

Apple last disclosed a user count for Apple TV Plus in May, revealing the service had around 10 million users. It’s widely believed that many—or even most—of these users are on the free promo.

Apple TV Plus subscribers can now also purchase a bundle of ViacomCBS SVOD services CBS All Access and Showtime at a combined price of $9.99 per month.

That price, offered through the channels feature in the Apple TV app, represents a 52% break over purchasing the $9.99 commercial-free version of CBS All Access and the $10.99 iteration of Showtime’s streaming service a la carte. 

Also read: Apple TV Plus to Bundle CBS All Access and Showtime at Discount

Priced at $4.99 a month, the Apple TV Plus streaming service has struggled in its first 10 months out of the gate, with its original-content-focused library hampered by pandemic-related production delays. Pricing incentives tied to other SVOD products certainly could not hurt. 

CBS All Access and Showtime now appear under the "More Channels" banner within the Apple TV app, alongside not only Apple TV Plus, but also the SVOD iterations of Epix and Starz, among other channels. Everything from billing to playback of the ViacomCBS services is disaggregated through Apple TV. 

"It’s great to be able to reach so many viewers with an offer that delivers our premium content through the Apple TV app," David Nevins, the CBS chief creative officer and Showtime chairman and CEO, said in a release. 

Added Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior VP of Internet Software and Services: “Apple TV Plus gives you access to award-winning Apple originals, with more high-quality series and movies being added each month. This bundle is a big bonus for Apple TV Plus subscribers, giving them the best of CBS and Showtime on the Apple TV app at a great value.”

Added Marc DeBevoise, ViacomCBS’s chief digital officer and ViacomCBS Digital’s president and chief executive officer: “There’s no better time to launch this special bundle. CBS All Access has recently expanded to now have 20,000+ episodes and movies for fans to enjoy, plus a great slate of new content from exclusive original series, like Star Trek: Discovery and The Stand, to new programming from CBS like Big Brother, Love Island and more.”

Ted Lasso premieres on Apple TV+, a comedy series about a football coach from Kansas who ends up coaching a Premier League team in England, where soccer is of course known as football. Jason Sudeikis plays the clueless Lasso. 

The show “is based on pre-existing format/characters from NBC Sports,” said Apple TV+, and that got me wondering how NBC Sports helped launch an Apple TV+ series. 

It turns out a series of NBC Sports short films, starring Sudeikis as Ted Lasso, helped promote Premier League action on NBC Sports. In the films, the moustachioed Lasso becomes manager of Tottenham Hotspur. Knowing nothing about soccer, he doesn’t last long in the role. 

The first clip, “An American Coach in London,”  came out in 2013 and shows Lasso learning about soccer as he makes his way in London. “Ties and no playoffs?” he wondered about English football at a press conference. “Why do you even do this?”

That clip has 14.2 million views on YouTube, so I’m not exactly sure how I missed it. 

Upon learning that one of his players is from Wales, Lasso wondered, “How many countries are in this country?”

His players call him Wanker, which he takes as a term of affection. “I think it just means great,” Lasso said. “A nice guy...a kind heart.”

Sudeikis of course was in the Saturday Night Live cast from 2005 to 2013. 

In 2014, a 6-minute clip, “The Return of Coach Lasso,” was shown on more than 19,000 movie screens, and Lasso starred in 30-second sports across the NBCUniversal network portfolio. It features Lasso doing studio work for NBC Sports back in the States, alongside Arlo White and Rebecca Lowe. Lasso has some trouble with the concept of relegation in English soccer. He coaches a girls team, and brings a “Premier League level of standards” to the girls, he said, coaching them on how to flop for non-existent penalties, and how to celebrate after a goal. 

Former U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard turns up in the video. 

At the end of the clip, Lasso has hooked up with another Premier League team. “I just got asked to be the head coach of Lychester,” said Lasso. 

“You mean Leicester,” said his interviewer. 

Apple is looking to further accelerate the growth of its $50-a-year services business by offering discounts to customers who bundle offerings like Apple TV+ and Apple Music.

The initiative, reported by Bloomberg quoting inside sources, is called Apple One. According to the report, the service would be tiered, with more expensive iterations adding services like Apple Arcade, Apple News+ and iCloud storage to the base package of Apple Music and Apple TV+.

Apple One would offer savings in the range of $2 - $5 a month, the report said.

Apple One is reportedly set to launch later this year and is being spearheaded by Peter Stern, a top lieutenant of Apple services chief Eddie Cue. Notably, Apple is set to debut its latest iPhone in October, along with the newest iteration of its mobile device software, iOS 14.

Also read: Apple TV+: ‘Greyhound’ a ‘Summer Blockbuster,’ But SVOD Still Struggling with Production Shutdown

Since it launched Nov. 1, 2019, Apple TV+ has been a middling contender in the so-called streaming wars. Apple hasn’t released signup numbers for the SVOD service, but it’s believed that most of its users have come from a promotion that offers a year free of Apple TV+ (aka Apple TV Plus) to those who purchase new Apple devices such as iPhones.

However, in totality, the Apple services business is growing quickly, with the company touting a doubling of revenue for the business segment from 2016.

In pursuing Apple One, the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant is purportedly seeking to mimic the success of Amazon Prime, which has achieved a bedrock of steady subscription revenue for Amazon by bundling a variety of music, video streaming and other services to a core of free shipping of retail goods. 

Apple has reportedly entered into an agreement to resell ViacomCBS's two SVOD services, CBS All Access and Showtime, at a steep discount through its Apple TV app. 

Bloomberg reports that Apple will resell CBS All Access and Showtime streaming in an Amazon Channels-like play. The bundle for the two SVOD services would run $9.99, a steep discount over the combined price of Showtime ($10.99 standalone) and CBS All Access ($9.99 in its no-advertising configuration).

Also read: ‘Apple One’ Initiative Seeks to Bundle Services like Apple Music and Apple TV+

Ostensibly, since Apple is reselling CBS All Access, the ad-supported $6.99 tier would be off the table. (It'd be mighty hard for Apple and ViacomCBS to negotiate how to split those ad dollars, wouldn't it?)

According to Bloomberg, the deal will kick off Monday. 

Bloomberg didn't address how the bundling will work once ViacomCBS launches and expanded version of CBS All Access that incorporates the broader Viacom part of the company. 

On Thursday, Bloomberg also reported that Apple is looking to bundle its own services combining assets like Apple TV Plus with Apple Music. 

Apple is looking to further accelerate the growth of its $50-a-year services business by offering discounts to customers who bundle offerings like Apple TV+ and Apple Music. 

The initiative, reported by Bloomberg quoting inside sources, is called Apple One. According to the report, the service would be tiered, with more expensive iterations adding services like Apple Arcade, Apple News+ and iCloud storage to the base package of Apple Music and Apple TV+.

Apple One would offer savings in the range of $2 - $5 a month, the report said. 

Apple One is reportedly set to launch later this year and is being spearheaded by Peter Stern, a top lieutenant of Apple services chief Eddie Cue. Notably, Apple is set to debut its latest iPhone in October, along with the newest iteration of its mobile device software, iOS 14.

Also read: Apple TV+: ‘Greyhound’ a ‘Summer Blockbuster,’ But SVOD Still Struggling with Production Shutdown

Since it launched Nov. 1, 2019, Apple TV+ has been a middling contender in the so-called streaming wars. Apple hasn’t released signup numbers for the SVOD service, but it’s believed that most of its users have come from a promotion that offers a year free of Apple TV+ (aka Apple TV Plus) to those who purchase new Apple devices such as iPhones. 

However, in totality, the Apple services business is growing quickly, with the company touting a doubling of revenue for the business segment from 2016. 

In pursuing Apple One, the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant is purportedly seeking to mimic the success of Amazon Prime, which has achieved a bedrock of steady subscription revenue for Amazon by bundling a variety of music, video streaming and other services to a core of free shipping of retail goods. 

Apple TV Plus claims to have scored its first major audience hit in July, as well as some Emmy love, but the struggling SVOD platform remains dogged by pandemic-fueled production studio shutdowns. 

“Production has been affected for Apple TV Plus, as I think it has for most people,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook, speaking to investment analysts last week during Apple’s fiscal third quarter earnings call. “We are working to get restarted. I don't have a precise date yet when we will get it restarted, but there will be some impact because we shut down in the March time frame and are yet to really restart in a significant way particularly for those that are shut in the L.A. area given the current status of the virus and those.”

Also read: Production Panic: Can the Major SVOD Services Keep Up with Ravenous Audience Demand?

The production delays are particularly meaningful for Apple TV Plus, which launched last November with an almost exclusive focus on original shows. As of July, eight months after launch, Apple TV Plus had 26 original shows and movies, distributed in 100 countries worldwide. There is little library content to fall back on. 

Early last month, media analyst Michael Nathanson wrote that Apple should “consider its options” in regard to its new SVOD service, considering recent Harris X data showing that penetration of the service actually went down to 7% (from 8%) during a heavy pandemic viewing period during which infiltration of other major streaming services is going up, up, up. 

Most of Apple TV Plus's user base at this point consists of 

Also read: Apple TV Plus Should ‘Reconsider’ its Options: MoffettNathanson

But since then, Apple TV Plus has enjoyed some traction: First, it debuted World War II movie Greyhound, written and starring Tom Hanks, which Cook described as a “summer blockbuster.”

Of course, this viewing information came directly from Apple. But it also said that 30% of the viewers were new to the service.

Then came last week’s Emmy Award nominations, during which Apple TV Plus took 18 nominations, just behind media tech darling Disney Plus. 

In any event, don’t look for Apple to consider the the option of dumping its SVOD service just yet. Cook also revealed that the tech giant’s services operation, for which Apple TV Plus is a component, has already achieved the goal of doubling Apple’s 2016 service’s revenue, and the fiscal year isn’t even over. 

Apple TV+ will offer the series The Oprah Conversation, an interview program hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show debuts July 30. 

Winfrey will lead “timely and intimate discussions with today’s foremost newsmakers, thought leaders, and masters of their craft,” said Apple TV+. “Bringing truth and perspective to a range of topics shaping our world, they reveal gripping stories of human connection.”

The premiere episode features author Professor Ibram X. Kendi, who will speak with white readers who confront their own racist beliefs. Winfrey will also speak with Emmanuel Acho, host of "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man,” and author Bryan Stevenson, whose memoir inspired the 2019 film Just Mercy.  

Apple TV+ already offers Oprah Talks COVID-19 and Oprah’s Book Club.

Little Voice, a musical drama from Sara Bareilles, begins on Apple TV+ July 10. Apple TV+ calls it “a love letter to the diverse musicality of New York.” The series follows Bess King, played by Brittany O’Grady, a performer struggling to fulfill her dreams while navigating rejection, love and complicated family issues. 

Bareilles created the show with Jessie Nelson. She did the show’s music as well. A singer-songwriter, Bareilles wrote the music for the stage hit Waitress. Nelson wrote the Waitress book. 

Sean Teale, Colton Ryan, Shalini Bathina, Kevin Valdez, Phillip Johnson Richardson and Chuck Cooper are also in the cast. 

Bareilles, Nelson, J.J. Abrams and Ben Stephenson are the executive producers. 

Bad Robot Productions produces Little Voice in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Streaming services account for the lion’s share of this week's new show premieres as the TV industry continues its summer season. 

HBO Max on July 9 will debut its documentary series Expecting Amy, which follows comedian Amy Schumer through her recent pregnancy, while Apple TV Plus on July 10 will debut the J.J. Abrams and Sara Bareilles-produced Little Voice (pictured), which follows the exploits of a 20-something performer seeking to find her true voice and the courage to use it, according to the service.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several other shows debuting the week of July 6 to July 12 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

July 8 -- Stateless (drama) -- Netflix

July 9 -- The Beach House (horror) -- Shudder

July 9 -- Close Enough (animation) -- HBO Max

July 10 -- Breathe: Into the Shadows (drama) -- Prime Video

July 10 -- Greatness Code (sports reality) -- Apple TV Plus

July 10 -- Greyhound (drama) -- Apple TV Plus

July 10 -- The Old Guard (action) -- Netflix

July 10 -- Palm Springs (movie) -- Hulu

July 12 -- P-Valley (drama) -- Starz 

As AT&T and its WarnerMedia division made the frantic final preparations to launch HBO Max on May 27, somehow coming up with original shows amid pandemic studio shutdowns and lining up vital distribution partnerships, one remaining obstacle proved intractable: app support for the most popular connected TV devices in the American living room.

At press time, HBO Max still hadn’t established app support for the top OTT device platforms in the U.S., Roku and Amazon Fire TV. According to statistics released by research company Conviva last year, Roku controlled around 43% of connected TV use in the U.S. versus 18% for Amazon Fire TV. Both companies claim around 40 million active users worldwide for their OTT ecosystems, which not only populate the boxes and HDMI dongles that plug into TV sets, but also the native operating systems of many smart TVs.

Roku and Amazon are disputing how market shares precisely break down in specific regions. Most everyone, though, agrees that Roku and Fire TV collectively comprise more than 50% of streaming in U.S. living rooms.

That’s certainly an issue for AT&T, which had made earlier deals to have the HBO Max app included on Apple TV and Android TV OTT devices and empowered smart TVs, as well as Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation video game consoles.

So what’s the hangup with Roku and Fire TV?

Echoes of Disney Plus

It turns out that HBO Max’s plight with the top OTT device makers is very similar to what The Walt Disney Co. experienced late last year when it launched Disney Plus. In fact, a deal to include Disney Plus on Fire TV devices wasn’t announced until Nov. 7, just five days before the boffo launch of the service.

Disney had to fight like heck to keep Amazon from “disaggregating” Disney Plus content into its own Amazon Prime Video Channels app, according to LightShed Partners analyst Richard Greenfield.

Launched in 2015, Amazon Prime Video Channels is Amazon’s groundbreaking aggregated streaming video service. The tech giant repackages and resells dozens of popular subscription streaming platforms, controlling the customer relationship, including billing and which app the viewer uses to watch the show. The “channels” model has proven so attractive for Amazon that Roku and Apple have copied it.

While they give up a lot to Amazon, SVOD services are able to get wider distribution than they would on their own. Some services access as many as 45% of their customers through Prime Video Channels.

But it isn’t for everyone.

As Greenfield noted in a recent blog post, the whole reason big media companies like Disney and AT&T choose to launch direct-to-consumer services is to, well, have a direct relationship with their consumer.

Ultimately, Disney managed to gain Amazon Fire TV app support but, like Netflix and Hulu, it refused to let Amazon process and resell Disney Plus through Prime Video Channels. (As Greenfield noted, it does allow Apple TV Channels to include Disney Plus programming in its app. But once users select Disney Plus programming, they’re booted out of the Apple TV app and sent to Disney Plus.)

AT&T and Amazon are probably arguing about similar things, with the dynamics complicated by the legacy HBO Now streaming service. Notably, it was the distribution success of HBO Now that inspired a wave of other SVOD services — everything from CBS All Access to Acorn TV — to sign onto Prime Video Channels five years ago.

With AT&T already having an existing SVOD service entrenched into Prime Video Channels, let’s just say the negotiations between AT&T and Amazon have been complicated.

Complex Talks

“A new subscriber to HBO Max or an existing HBO Now subscriber who is automatically upgraded to HBO Max at launch, via the Amazon Prime channel store, would only be able to watch legacy HBO content via the Prime Channel platform and would need to download the HBO Max app separately to watch content that is exclusive to HBO Max (catalog such as Friends and TheBig Bang Theory, original series and movies),” Greenfield wrote, citing just one complication of an AT&T-Amazon deal. “We believe Amazon looks at that consumer experience as subpar and overly complicated. We agree.”

AT&T’s negotiating dynamics were reportedly similar with Roku, which is also now in the business of reselling/aggregating subscription streaming services. At press time, a deal with Roku was said to be much further along than one with Amazon.

An encouraging sign: AT&T negotiated the return of its AT&T TV app to the Roku Channels Store. The AT&T TV app, which houses the AT&T TV Now virtual pay TV service, had been unavailable for download since the beginning of the year. Its return to Roku Channels was seen as an indicator that Roku and AT&T would hash out an HBO Max distribution agreement by May 27. 

Struggling SVOD service Apple TV Plus is in talks with the major media conglomerates about acquiring some older movies and TV shows, Bloomberg reports.

The move is notable, given Apple TV Plus (aka Apple TV+) launched November 1 of last year with only original series.

Also read: Is It Already Too Late for Apple TV Plus?

But with film and TV production shut down amid the pandemic, and all of Apple’s SVOD competitors supporting much deeper content libraries, Apple is understandably seeking to build some depth. Bloomberg said it has already made some acquisitions, although what it has licensed so far was not reported.

Visit Next TV to read more stories like this one. 

Citing unnamed sources, the news service also said that Apple TV Plus had acquired around 10 million subscribers through February. Only around half of those, however, are regularly using the service.

Apple TV Plus has a $4.99 subscription price. But Apple has been giving away the service for free to purchasers of iPhones, MacBook Pros and other Apple devices.

Also read: Apple TV App Leads Tech Giant’s Surging Services Business

The better news for Apple is that TV Plus was part of a growth story in Q1, during which app-based services generated a record $13.3 billion for the technology giant. 

Struggling SVOD service Apple TV Plus is in talks with the major media conglomerates about acquiring some older movies and TV shows, Bloomberg reports. 

The move is notable, given Apple TV Plus (aka Apple TV+) launched November 1 of last year with only original series. 

Also read: Is It Already Too Late for Apple TV Plus?

But with film and TV production shut down amid the pandemic, and all of Apple’s SVOD competitors supporting much deeper content libraries, Apple is understandably seeking to build some depth. Bloomberg said it has already made some acquisitions, although what it has licensed so far was not reported. 

Citing unnamed sources, the news service also said that Apple TV Plus had acquired around 10 million subscribers through February. Only around half of those, however, are regularly using the service.

Apple TV Plus has a $4.99 subscription price. But Apple has been giving away the service for free to purchasers of iPhones, MacBook Pros and other Apple devices. 

Also read: Apple TV App Leads Tech Giant’s Surging Services Business

The better news for Apple is that TV Plus was part of a growth story in Q1, during which app-based services generated a record $13.3 billion for the technology giant. 

At the 2020 Television Critics Association (TCA) Winter Press Tour, Apple billed its new Apple TV Plus streaming service as the destination for "creative storytellers." 

But can the biggest name in consumer technology get anyone to watch anything these top creative storytellers produce?

Launched on Nov. 1, 2019, Apple TV Plus (or, Apple TV+, if you're so stylistically inclined) has promised the end user a potpourri of exclusive original shows, movies and documentaries. Drama The Morning Show, starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell is Apple TV Plus's signature entry. Despite the mixed reviews, Apple TV+ did manage to snag three Golden Globe Award nominations (including Best Television Series – Drama) and a Screen Actors Guild award for Jennifer Aniston for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series, which for a new streaming service is an impressive feat.

The Morning Show, however, was only one of eight shows (seven scripted and one non-scripted) available at Apple TV+’s inception. Nothing else has been all that buzzworthy. Only about 5% of U.S. streaming homes sampled Apple TV Plus in the latter six weeks in fourth quarter 2019 it was available, according to a poll conducted by market research firm HarrisX for equity research boutique MoffettNathanson. As of April 2020, another HarrisX poll commissioned by MoffettNathanson found that only 7% of streaming homes subscribe to Apple TV Plus.

Obstacles

And there was an immediate obstacle: Disney Plus, which just 11 days after the introduction of Apple TV Plus debuted with an endless well of content from Disney films, Disney animation, Disney Channel Originals, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, and National Geographic for $6.99 per month.

Also Read: Apple TV+ Tried by Only 5% of U.S. Streaming Homes in Q4: HarrisX Poll

This same poll by HarrisX found that 23% of the overall market used Disney Plus in December. 

Research company Parrot Analytics found that five of the top 10 TV shows on U.S. streaming services in the fourth quarter belonged to Apple TV Plus, led by Truth Be Told, Servant and See.

Even at a lower monthly cost, Apple TV Plus at $4.99 may not be able to adequately compete in this new era of “streaming wars” unless it significantly beefs up its original programming slate. Peacock, from NBCUniversal; and HBO Max, from WarnerMedia are launching in the spring, and both have extensive libraries to rely on.

“What’s really amazing to me is how two of the most revered brands in the world each wound up using ‘plus’ in the title of their streaming services,” noted Mike Tankel, partner/optimist at marketing and development firm To Be Continued. “With Disney, we know the brand, but with Apple we don’t yet know what they stand for in content, at least not at the pop culture level.”

“Given the big stars, big budgets and important stories from its inception, the immediate concern is that we aren’t we talking about the Apple TV Plus shows around the water cooler,” he added. “I know more about the stars, directors and executives Apple has hired than I do the shows.”

With a massive reported 10 million subscribers for Disney Plus within the first day of launching the service in the U.S., Canada and The Netherlands, the subscriber count for the streaming service is estimated to grow as high as 138 million globally by 2025, according to Todd Juenger, media analyst of Bernstein Research.

Since Apple has offered its Apple TV Plus streaming service free for one year to anyone who purchases an iPhone, iPad or a Mac (among other Apple products), the hope is the available content will entice users to eventually pay for a subscription. “It’s a gift to our users,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said on an earnings call one week prior to the launch of Apple TV Plus. “We’re really proud of the content. We’d like as many people as possible to view it.”

But the lack of original content at present, racked with some less than impressive early reviews and the limited initial sampling could certainly thwart the early subscriber estimates for Apple TV Plus.

Bloomberg reported in May that Apple TV Plus is in talks with the major media conglomerates about licensing library content. The news service said that Apple TV Plus has only signed up 10 million users to date, and only 5 million of them are actively using the product. Apple has promoted its TV Plus service by giving it away free for one year to purchasers of iPhones, Macbook Pros and other Apple products.

“If this were 10 years ago, I might have been cautiously optimistic about Apple TV Plus,” noted Rob Russo, president, RNR Media Consulting. “But now there is the over-saturation of streamers, which has to break at some point. There is no key show for Apple TV+ to build itself around, like anything of a Star Trek nature on CBS All Access and Star Wars: The Mandalorian on Disney+. And while you definitely have a household name in Apple, the brand is not known for entertainment.

“I think if you asked 100 people what Apple TV Plus offers other than The Morning Show, I bet most of these people would have no idea,” he added. “Without an immediate library of content to launch the brand and a signature series, there is nothing worthy of note available at Apple TV Plus  right now. Unless something breaks out of the gate, I think they could be the first casualty of the over-saturation of OTT.”

Originals to the Rescue?

Limited drama thriller Defending Jacob, based on the 2012 New York Times best-selling novel of the same name, will premiere its first three episodes on Apple TV Plus on Friday, April 24. The series unfolds around a shocking crime that rocks a small Massachusetts town, and follows an assistant district attorney (Chris Evans) who finds himself torn between his sworn duty to uphold justice, and his unconditional love for his son.

Animated musical comedy Central Park from Loren Bouchard (Bob’s Burgers), and executive producers Josh Gad (Frozen) and Nora Smith (Bob’s Burgers), will premiere exclusively on Apple TV Plus this summer.

The revival of Steven Spielberg anthology drama Amazing Stories will launch on Friday, March 6. Documentary Home, which offers viewers a look inside the world’s most innovative homes, launches on Friday, April 17. And Trying, Apple’s first original series from the UK, debuts on Apple TV+ on Friday, May 1. The comedy is described as “growing up, settling down and finding someone to love.”

Two series on Apple TV Plus, meanwhile, have been renewed for second seasons before premiering: Mystic Quest: Raven’s Banquet, which debuts on February 7; and Home Before Dark, which opens on April 3. Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet follows a team of video game developers as they navigate the challenges of running a popular game. And Home Before Dark, which was previewed in a TCA panel, tracks a young girl who moves from Brooklyn to the small lakeside town her father left behind. While there, her dogged pursuit of the truth leads her to unearth a cold case that everyone in town, including her own father, tried hard to bury.

“Traditionally, Apple is a great enabler with amazing user experience. From iMacs to iPhones we are able to do more than we ever imagined. And with the original iTunes, we had access to the music libraries of our dreams,” noted To Be Continued’s Tankel. “So, don’t count Apple TV Plus out by any means. The user experience is wonderful and could be the perfect place to park an acquired library of content...or even an existing streamer. They have the money, they have the smarts, they have the customers, and like much of Silicon Valley, they just think entertainment is a logical next step.”

“But since this looks like an uphill battle, we will just have to wait and see,” he said.

Bursting out of the gates with more than 54 million subscribers globally, Disney Plus has completely blocked out the sun for Apple’s own entry to the streaming wars, Apple TV Plus, at least early on. 

Apple TV Plus Watched by Only 7% of U.S. Streaming Homes: Report

But while Disney Plus stood out as a lone beckon amid Disney’s devastated first-quarter balance sheet, which saw an overall 91% decline in profits,  Apple TV Plus was, inversely, only a small functional piece of broader success story for Apple, which saw its services revenue increase to a record $13.3 billion for the January - March period.

With sales of iPhones, Macbook Pros and other hardware gadgets in decline, the success of services was the reason Apple was able to eek out narrow 1% revenue growth in its fiscal second quarter. 

Since Apple TV Plus launched November 1, most of the buzz has been about, well, the fact that there’s been so little buzz. Apple TV Plus has no library and not enough original shows to succeed, pundits have contended. A recent HarrisX poll found that only around 7% of streaming homes were watching the service, mostly on an aggressive Apple promotion that provides it free for a year.  And its star packed original shows, including The Morning Show, have fallen surprisingly flat with TV critics. (Although the recent debut of filmmaker Spike Jonze’s Beastie Boys Story has delivered the $4.99-a-month streaming service its first hit.)

Also read: Apple TV Plus Has Pandemic’s Biggest Audience Demand Spike Among SVOD Services, Research Group Says

Reporting earnings April 30, Apple really didn’t get into its new video streaming service that specifically. While the so-called “streaming wars” topic is big news in the media business, and Apple reportedly spent $6 billion on original shows to be part of it, star-studded Apple TV Plus really does seem to be a mere character actor in Apple’s broader app-based services business, which also includes other recently launched apps, Apple Arcade, Apple News Plus and Apple Card.

Apple is aiming for its services business to finish 2020 with twice as much revenue as it generated in 2016. And the Apple TV app, for which Apple TV Plus is merely a component, is a key driver to that effort.

Notably, Apple isn’t really fighting the streaming wars so much as controlling the chessboard. For example, both AT&T/WarnerMedia and Comcast/NBCUniversal have recently put out announcement suggesting their respective new streaming services, HBO Max and Peacock, will be available on iPhones, iPads and Apple TV devices when they debut. 

To get there, they have to pay the house—that is, the Apple TV app. Apple TV+ gets to live there rent-free. But every other streaming competitor has to pay the going rate of around 30% of revenue, give or take, to get distribution in this piece of technology real estate no streaming service can afford to live without. 

“Our third-party subscription business grew across multiple categories and increased over 30% year-over-year, reaching a new all-time high,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors 

Audience demand for series and season premieres is now split evenly among subscription streaming platforms and linear TV, according to Parrot Analytics.

The research firm has created a proprietary metric it calls “demand expressions,” which is an amalgamation of consumer signals indicating their intention to watch a show.

Visit Next TV to read more stories like this one. 

“It’s a holistic view into what people really want,” said Alejandro Rojas, director of applied analytics for Parrot, speaking during Friday's Virtual NYC TV Week Spring panel presentation, an event produced by MCN parent company Future.

Notably, among individual platforms, based on Parrot’s demand expressions metrics, Apple TV Plus has had the biggest demand increase during the pandemic viewing period, increasing its share by nearly 9%—more than even Netflix. 

Streamed historical and crime dramas are drawing the most interest from video watchers during the pandemic, at least when it comes to Wikipedia perusers.

According to MIDiA Research, whose clients include Disney, Sony, Amazon, and Google, of the top 10 most viewed Wikipedia "TV show" pages April 29 (see chart), were all streamed content, and all on either Netflix of Hulu.

The first, says MIDiA, shows streaming's leading position in the "zeitgeist" content sphere during the pandemic. And given that the shows are all on two services, and that six of the ten are UK productions, MIDiA's second big takeaway is that Disney+ and Apple TV+ "are not yet making the kind of sustained impact required for them to be perceived as originators of compelling new content."

Apple's top Wikipedia'd offering was Defending Jacob at 13th place and Disney's The Mandalorian was 16th.

That domination by history and crime is in contrast to the pre-pandemic December lists' top 10, which included reality, scripted drama, comedy, sci-fi, fantasy and animation.

The research company says the appeal of historical dramas could be the attraction of escapism in a hunkered-down viewership, but says the rise in the appeal of crime dramas is harder to pin down, though it says it might be the complexity of the storylines for folks with the time to to puzzle them out, just as detective novels thrived during the Great Depression of the 1930's.

A Wikipedia view does not necessarily translate into a video view, of course. But the company points out that as a leading indicator, Wikipedia page views "means that the viewer has specifically decided to read a page about a show, denoting their interest in a way that a casual google search does not."

WarnerMedia said it has reached a carriage agreement with Apple for its HBO Max offering to fully integrate the streaming service on the Apple TV app.

WarnerMedia plans to launch HBO Max on May 27. Earlier, it said it had reached carriage deals with Charter Communications and YouTube TV. 

At launch HBO Max customers will be able to access the service on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD. Customers with second and third generation Apple TV models can stream HBO Max content from their iPhone or iPad to their TV with AirPlay. Existing customers of WarnerMedia’s current streaming offering -- HBO Now -- who are billed through the App Store and HBO subscribers through Apple TV channels can log in and access the HBO Max app at no additional charge. New HBO Max customers will be able to subscribe directly in the app using in-app purchase.

Fully integrating HBO Max into Apple TV will allow subscribers to watch sows across Apple devices, find content easily and search for HBO Max content using Siri and universal search.

“As we prepare for the launch of HBO Max, our focus remains on making it as widely available as possible for customers seeking out this best-in-class streaming experience,” said WarnerMedia president of distribution Rich Warren in a press release. “The availability to HBO Max across Apple devices is a great addition to our distribution offering and will provide seamless access for millions of customers.”

HBO Max will have 10,000 hours of curated content and a programming slate including new original series, series and films from WarnerMedia’s library and third-party licensed programs and movies.

The company recently announced its day one programming slate. 

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of April 27 to May 3 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

April 27 -- Never Have I Ever (dramedy) -- Netflix

April 29 -- Normal People (drama) -- Hulu

April 29 -- A Secret Love (documentary) -- Netflix

April 30 -- Dangerous Lies (thriller) -- Netflix

May 1 -- Betty (drama) -- HBO

May 1 -- Hollywood (drama) -- Netflix

May 1 -- Trying (comedy) -- Apple TV+

May 1 -- Upload (comedy) -- Prime Video

May 3 -- Billions (drama) -- Showtime

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of April 20 to April 26 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

April 20 -- Dummy (comedy) --Quibi

April 22 -- Jane Goodall: The Hope (documentary) -- Nat Geo

April 23 -- We’re Here (reality) -- HBO

April 24 -- Bad Cut: The Dangers of Extreme Weight Cutting (documentary) -- FloSports

April 24 -- After Life (comedy) -- Netflix

April 24 -- Beastie Boys Story (documentary) -- Apple TV+

April 24 -- Defending Jacob (drama) -- Apple TV+ (Review)

April 24 -- Extraction (action/thriller) -- Netflix

April 25 -- Bad Education (drama) -- HBO

April 26 -- Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (horror) -- Showtime

April 26 -- Vida (drama) -- Starz

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of April 20 to April 26 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

April 20 -- Dummy (comedy) --Quibi

April 22 -- Jane Goodall: The Hope (documentary) -- National Geographic

April 23 -- We’re Here (reality) -- HBO

April 24 -- Bad Cut: The Dangers of Extreme Weight Cutting (documentary) -- FloSports

April 24 -- After Life (comedy) -- Netflix

April 24 -- Beastie Boys Story (documentary) -- Apple TV+

April 24 -- Defending Jacob (drama) -- Apple TV+ (Review)

April 24 -- Extraction (action/thriller) -- Netflix

April 25 -- Bad Education (drama) -- HBO

April 26 -- Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (horror) -- Showtime

April 26 -- Vida (drama) -- Starz

Approaching six months since launch, the metrics continue to look sour for SVOD service Apple TV Plus.

According to a new HarrisX survey commissioned by MoffettNathanson, despite a massive uptick in the amount of streaming video consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic, only 7% of U.S. streaming homes are using Apple TV Plus.

Visit Next TV to read more stories like this one. 

The low penetration, according to MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson “speaks to [Apple TV Plus’] limited content offering and lack of library.”

Another notable data point from HarrisX’s first quarter SVOD data: 55% of Apple TV Plus users are on free promotional plans, with Apple giving away its streaming service for a full year to purchasers of new Apple devices.

Related: Apple TV Plus: Nearly Six Months in, Is Anybody Watching?

HarrisX gathered responses from 19,416 U.S. adult consumers about their subscription streaming habits during the first quarter.

Also interesting: Apple TV Plus doesn’t seem to enjoy exceptional market penetration with any specific age group. The HarrisX data shows its penetration reaching 8% across adults ages 25-29, 30-34, 35-39 and 40-44, with adults age 18-24 at 7%. 

Approaching six months since launch, the metrics continue to look sour for SVOD service Apple TV Plus.

According to a new HarrisX survey commissioned by MoffettNathanson, despite a massive uptick in the amount of streaming video consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic, only 7% of U.S. streaming homes are using Apple TV Plus.

The low penetration, according to MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson “speaks to [Apple TV Plus’] limited content offering and lack of library.”

Also read: Apple TV Plus: Nearly Six Months in, Is Anybody Watching?

Another notable data point from HarrisX’s first quarter SVOD data: 55% of Apple TV Plus users are on free promotional plans, with Apple giving away its streaming service for a full year to purchasers of new Apple devices. 

HarrisX gathered responses from 19,416 U.S. adult consumers about their subscription streaming habits during the first quarter. 

Also interesting: Apple TV Plus doesn’t seem to enjoy exceptional market penetration with any specific age group. The HarrisX data shows it’s penetration reaching 8% across adults ages 25-29, 30-34, 35-39 and 40-44, with adults age 18-24 at 7%. 

Streaming service Apple TV+ will stream for free a new special, Oprah Talks COVID-19 -- The Deadly Impact on Black America, the service said Tuesday. 

The special features an in-depth conversation featuring Oprah Winfrey as she discusses the effects COVID-19 pandemic is having on African-Americans across the country, said Apple TV+ officials. Appearing on the special will be CNN personality Van Jones, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and Dr. Aletha Maybank, Chief Health Equity Officer at the American Medical Association.

The special is part of Apple’s Oprah Talks COVID-19, a new weekly series offering timely conversations around the global health crisis, said the company. 

OWN will televise the special at 11 pm this evening (April 14), said network officials. 

Streaming service Apple TV+ will stream for free a new special, Oprah Talks COVID-19 -- The Deadly Impact on Black America, the service said Tuesday. 

The special features an in-depth conversation featuring Oprah Winfrey as she discusses the effects COVID-19 pandemic is having on African-Americans across the country, said Apple TV+ officials. Appearing on the special will be CNN personality Van Jones, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and Dr. Aletha Maybank, chief health equity officer at the American Medical Association.

The special is part of Apple’s Oprah Talks COVID-19, a new weekly series offering timely conversations around the global health crisis, said the company. 

OWN will televise the special at 11 pm this evening (April 14), said network officials. 

Netflix has what we used to call a “water-cooler” hit with Tiger King. Disney Plus, which just expanded to Western Europe and India, reported its 50 millionth subscriber this week. And almost every TV critic in America is kicking the tires on mobile-first streaming service Quibi.

But as consumers, stuck at home—and in all too many unfortunate cases—out of work during the COVID-19 pandemic, buzz doesn’t seem to be occurring at Apple TV Plus. 

Even before social distancing changed viewing patterns, there were downer indicators. In early-February, Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi told Bloomberg that the service, a free year of which is given out to purchasers of iPhones, MacBook Pros and other Apple devices, is “failing to resonate.” He said that fewer than 10 million users had signed up, despite Apple’s aggressive gratis-for-12-months promotion. 

Sacconaghi’s projection was preceded by an Ampere Analysis suggestion in late-January that 33.6 million U.S. consumers actually had signed up for Apple TV Plus, but few of them are paying. 

In early March, mogul Barry Diller told the Byers Market podcast that Apple “is still not in it with both feet... They've put some capital in, but relatively little. They're not making a major effort. ... They haven't decided yet."

Related: Is It Already Too Late for Apple TV+?

Jump forward about a month—and a major societal shift—later, and the outlook doesn’t seem to be improving. 

Earlier this week, writing for Decider, streaming media analyst the Entertainment Strategy Guy laid out the circumstantial evidence in a compelling way. Start with Google Trends, which paints a rather damning picture. Since around mid-March—right after NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s landmark decision to suspend his league’s season triggered a cascading series of events that largely confined everyone to their living rooms—interest in both Netflix and Disney Plus is way up. Apple TV Plus, however, has remained flatlined. (See graphic.)

Streaming analytics firm Antenna, meanwhile, said that Apple TV Plus subscriptions only grew by around 10% in the first week of the pandemic shutdown, the lowest of any major SVOD service. 

Launching Nov. 1, just under two weeks before Disney Plus exploded out of the gate, Apple TV Plus (or Apple TV+, as it’s officially styled) started out with eight original series, highlighted by The Morning Show, a dramedy about a daily network TV production starring Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carrel and Reese Witherspoon. The sci-fi series See, featuring Alfre Woodard and Jason Momoa, also received heavy promotion. 

Touting 17% revenue growth for Apple services in the fourth quarter, Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors that Apple TV Plus got off to a “rousing start.” But both The Morning Show and See had middling receptions by critics, evidenced by their respective 61% and 43% Rotten Tomatoes scores. 

The Way of Seeso?

And any consumer buzz for these series seemed to get drowned out over the holiday period by The Mandalorian, the breakout Disney Plus hit original, and the Martin Scorsese feature film The Irishman, which debuted to huge audiences on Netflix. 

Apple had high hopes for the Steven Spielberg-produced ensemble-themed Amazing Stories. But debuting March 13, right around the beginning of the pandemic viewing spike, the decidedly PG-rated Amazing Stories—which would seem to be a prime candidate for lockdown family viewing—hasn’t produced much in the way of magic, either with audiences or critics. The latter have scored it with an aggregate 42% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

For its part, Apple TV Plus has shunned the licensing of library product, meaning that even if it had breakout hits, it wouldn’t have anything like, say Marvel or Star Wars franchise films, to bridge the gap between them. 

Further, content tempo has been slow, with only one or two shows premiering each month since launch. 

Does this mean that Apple will give up after spending a reported $6 billion on content to join the streaming wars? Probably not, said Entertainment Strategy Guy. 

“Even if their own streaming service fails (Apple TV+), they’re still heavily invested in Apple TV (the device and service to sell TV subscriptions),” he explained on Decider. “As for their streaming and their new shows? Something has to give; either they make a lot more shows and buy a library or Apple TV+ could go the way of Seeso.”

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of March 30 to April 5 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

March 31 -- Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert (music documentary) -- YouTube

March 31 -- If Loving You Is Wrong (drama) -- OWN

March 31 -- The Scheme (sports documentary) -- HBO

April 1 -- The Challenge: Total Madness (reality series) -- MTV

April 1 -- How to Fix a Drug Scandal (documentary) -- Netflix

April 1 -- Nailed It! (reality competition) -- Netflix

April 2 -- Siren (returning series) -- Freeform

April 3 -- Dolphin Reef & Elephant (nature documentaries) -- Disney+

April 3 -- Future Man (returning series) -- Hulu

April 3 -- Home Before Dark (drama) -- Apple TV+ (RELATED: Series Review)

April 3 -- Into The Dark (Pooka 2: Pooka Lives (horror) -- Hulu

April 3 -- Tales From the Loop (drama) -- Prime Video

April 5 -- Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children (documentary) -- HBO

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of March 30 to April 5 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

March 31 -- Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert (music documentary) -- YouTube

March 31 -- If Loving You Is Wrong (drama) -- OWN

March 31 -- The Scheme (sports documentary) -- HBO

April 1 -- The Challenge: Total Madness (reality series) -- MTV

April 1 -- How to Fix a Drug Scandal (documentary) -- Netflix

April 1 -- Nailed It! (reality competition) -- Netflix

April 2 -- Siren (returning series) -- Freeform

April 3 -- Dolphin Reef & Elephant (nature documentaries) -- Disney+

April 3 -- Future Man (returning series) -- Hulu

April 3 -- Home Before Dark (drama) -- Apple TV+

April 3 -- Into The Dark (Pooka 2: Pooka Lives (horror) -- Hulu

April 3 -- Tales From the Loop (drama) -- Prime Video

April 5 -- Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children (documentary) -- HBO

Home Before Dark, about a girl reporter who breaks a murder story in her neighborhood, debuts on Apple TV+ April 3. Brooklyn Prince plays Hilde Lysiak, who made a name for herself as a 9-year-old when she broke news of a murder in Selingsgrove, Pa. in her own Orange Street News. Lysiak used to shadow her father Matthew when he was a reporter for the Daily News in New York. 

Apple TV+ has committed to two seasons. 

Dana Fox is co-creator, showrunner and executive producer. She said Home Before Dark is much more than a show about a “plucky little girl who solves crimes.” She described the series as a bingeable mystery and a family show.

“It will make people feel very connected,” she said, to their own family and to others. 

Jim Sturgess, Abby Miller, Louis Herthum and Michael Weston are also in the cast. 

John Chu executive produces. 

Apple TV Plus has released the latest video trailer for its drama series Home Before Dark, which debuts April 3.

The series follows a young girl who moves from the city of Brooklyn to the small lakeside town her father left behind. While there, her dogged pursuit of the truth leads her to unearth a cold case that everyone in town, including her own father, tried hard to bury, according to Apple TV Plus.

Apple TV+ has released the latest video trailer for its drama series Home Before Dark, which debuts April 3.

The series follows a young girl who moves from the city of Brooklyn to the small lakeside town her father left behind. While there, her dogged pursuit of the truth leads her to unearth a cold case that everyone in town, including her own father, tried hard to bury, according to Apple TV+.

Truth Be Told, starring Octavia Spencer, has been renewed for a second season by Apple TV+. 

The series won Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series at the 2020 NAACP Image Awards. Spencer was nominated for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini Series or Dramatic Special at the NAACP Image Awards. 

The series follows Poppy Parnell (Spencer) who runs a true-crime podcast. Season one saw Poppy come "face to face with the man she may have mistakenly put behind bars." Season two will revolve around a new case. The amount of episodes was not disclosed.

“Working with Octavia Spencer has been a dream come true for me. I am honored to continue to build the character of Poppy Parnell with her and my partners at Hello Sunshine and Chernin Entertainment,” said Nichelle Tramble Spellman, showrunner, writer and executive producer. “Apple continues to show their tremendous support for us and the show. I am thrilled to dive back into exploring our national obsession with true crime and how it plays out with our rich canvas of compelling characters.”

The first season of Truth Be Told is available for streaming on Apple TV+. The streaming service costs $4.99 a month and is available on the app for iPhone, iPod touch, Mac, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and select smart TVs. 

Truth Be Told is executive produced by Octavia Spencer, Tramble Spellman, Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter for Hello Sunshine. It's also produced by Chernin Entertainment and Endeavor Content. 

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of Feb. 3 to Feb. 9 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

Feb. 11 -- Cherish The Day (drama) -- OWN

Feb. 13 -- Narcos: Mexico (drama) -- Netflix

Feb. 13 -- Stuck On You (drama) -- UMC

Feb. 14 -- High Fidelity (dramedy) -- Hulu

Feb. 14 -- Utopia Falls (drama/musical) -- Hulu

Feb. 14 -- Visible: Out on Television (documentary series) -- Apple TV+

Feb. 14 -- Zombies 2 (movie) -- Disney

Feb. 16 -- Outlander (drama) -- Starz

Feb. 16 -- War of the Worlds (drama) -- Epix

Feb. 16 -- Washington (documentary) -- History

HBO Max has acquired documentary On The Record, about sexual harassment in the music industry. Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering produced and directed the project, about industry executive Drew Dixon and her allegations against mogul Russell Simmons. 

Oprah Winfrey had been an executive producer, and the documentary was going to stream on Apple TV+. Both backed off on the project, Winfrey citing “creative differences” with the filmmakers.  

On The Record premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in late January and was well received. 

Besides Dixon, the film looks at accusations from Sil Lai Abrams, Sheri Hines, Jenny Lumet, Alexia Norton Jones, “delving deeply into the ways women of color’s voices are all too often silenced and ignored when reporting these crimes,” according to HBO Max. 

“The fierce determination of Drew Dixon and all of the women who bravely chose to share their stories in On The Record moved us profoundly,” says Sarah Aubrey, head of original content at HBO Max. “I’ve been impressed with Amy and Kirby’s work over the years covering this complex subject matter, and look forward to this film finding the widest possible audience.”

Simmons has not been charged with any crimes.

“Kirby and I are so proud to be teaming with HBO Max to give this film the outstanding platform it deserves and can’t wait for the public to see and hear the voices of these courageous women,” said Ziering.

On The Record is produced by Dick and Ziering’s Jane Doe Films with Dan Cogan for Impact Partners, Regina K Scully for Artemis Rising, Ian Darling for Shark Island and Abigail Disney for Level Forward the executive producers. Jamie Rogers and Amy Herdy produce.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of Feb. 3 to Feb. 9 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

Feb. 3 -- Manhunt: Deadly Games (returning series) -- Spectrum

Feb. 3 -- McMillions (documentary) -- HBO

Feb. 5 -- They’ve Gotta Have Us (miniseries) -- Netflix

Feb. 6 -- Briarpatch (drama) -- USA

Feb. 6 -- Interrogation (drama) -- CBS All Access

Feb. 6 -- The Sinner (returning series) -- USA

Feb. 7 -- All or Nothing: The Philadelphia Eagles (sports/reality) -- Prime Video

Feb. 7 -- High Maintenance (returning series) -- HBO

Feb. 7 -- Locke & Key (drama) -- Netflix

Feb. 7 - Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet (comedy) --Apple TV+

Feb. 7 -- Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made (family) -- Disney+

Feb. 9 -- Homeland (returning series) -- Showtime

Feb. 9 -- Kidding (returning series) -- Showtime

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of Feb. 3 to Feb. 9 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

Feb. 3 -- Manhunt: Deadly Games (returning series) -- Spectrum

Feb. 3 -- McMillions (documentary) -- HBO

Feb. 5 -- They’ve Gotta Have Us (miniseries) -- Netflix

Feb. 6 -- Briarpatch (drama) -- USA

Feb. 6 -- Interrogation (drama) -- CBS All Access

Feb. 6 -- The Sinner (returning series) -- USA

Feb. 7 -- All or Nothing: The Philadelphia Eagles (sports/reality) -- Prime Video

Feb. 7 -- High Maintenance (returning series) -- HBO

Feb. 7 -- Locke & Key (drama) -- Netflix

Feb. 7 - Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet (comedy) --Apple TV+

Feb. 7 -- Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made (family) -- Disney+

Feb. 9 -- Homeland (returning series) -- Showtime

Feb. 9 -- Kidding (returning series) -- Showtime

Apple has hired away a high-ranking engineer from Netflix to help it build out its new streaming service, Apple TV+.

Ruslan Meshenberg, a nine-year Netflix veteran who was crucial in the service’s migration to an Amazon Web Services cloud architecture, tweeted a picture of Apple headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, California Monday, writing simply, “New adventure.”

On his LinkedIn profile, he describes his role at Apple briefly as well, listing himself only as “engineering lead.”

Meshenberg’s move was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which noted that Apple is similarly shifting much of the infrastructure for its internet-based services to the cloud.

Related: Is It Already Too Late for Apple TV+?

Apple TV+ (aka Apple TV Plus) launched on November 1. During Apple’s fourth-quarter earnings call Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the 4.99-a-month Apple TV+ service, which is given away for free for one year to purchasers of new Apple devices, is “off to a rousing start.”

It’s unclear as to how rousing, however.

For more stories like this, visit our sister publication Next TV.

A HarrisX study published last week reported that only about 5% of U.S. streaming homes sampled Apple TV+ in the latter six weeks in fourth quarter 2019 it was available.

However, Parrot Analytics reported Tuesday that six of the top 10 streaming debuts in Q4 came from Apple TV+. 

Apple has hired away a high-ranking engineer from Netflix to help it build out its new streaming service, Apple TV+.

Ruslan Meshenberg, a nine-year Netflix veteran who was crucial in the service’s migration to an Amazon Web Services cloud architecture, tweeted a picture of Apple headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, Calif. Monday, writing simply, “New adventure.”

On his LinkedIn profile, he describes his role at Apple briefly as well, listing himself only as “engineering lead.” 

Meshenberg’s move was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which noted that Apple is similarly shifting much of the infrastructure for its internet-based services to the cloud. 

Related: Is It Already Too Late for Apple TV+?

Apple TV+ (aka Apple TV Plus) launched on November 1. During Apple’s fourth-quarter earnings call Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the 4.99-a-month Apple TV+ service, which is given away for free for one year to purchasers of new Apple devices, is “off to a rousing start.”

It’s unclear as to how rousing, however.

A HarrisX study published last week reported that only about 5% of U.S. streaming homes sampled Apple TV+ in the latter six weeks in fourth quarter 2019 it was available.

However, Parrot Analytics reported Tuesday that six of the top 10 streaming debuts in Q4 came from Apple TV+. 

Revenue generated globally by over-the-top services is on pace to surpass $200 billion by the end of 2023, according to new data published by global tech market advisory firm ABI Research.

This represents revenue growth of more than 50% over 2019, during which OTT companies generated $129.4 billion in revenue, 90% of which came from subscriptions and advertising, the research company said.

The projection culminates a decade of growth for the domestic streaming business. In 2013, ABI Research said the OTT market only generated about $12.2 billion in revenue.

For more stories like this, visit our sister publication Next TV.

Study author Michael Inouye, principal analyst at ABI Research, credits the growth to new market entrants like Disney+ and Apple TV+, as well as “aggressive pricing and packaging, and continue expansion of incumbents pushing the subscription video on demand (SVOD) market to new heights.”

Growth in the Asia-Pacific region, specifically China, is also listed a factor, as is the expansion of new access technologies like 5G.

"Cord-cutting is often regarded as a consequence of expanding OTT consumption, but the market dynamics are more complex, particularly when one considers how the pay TV industry has embraced OTT as a complement and value-additive, rather than strict competition,” Inouye said in a statement. Over time, we expect the traditional pay TV offer to continue to evolve and become indistinguishable from a pure OTT package of services.”

The study also noted that even with over 700 million OTT SVOD subscriptions in 2019, the pay TV market, with over 1 billion subscriptions worldwide, is still larger.

And, while pay TV growth rates are slower (and declining in North America), the overall market is still expanding.

"Increasingly, we're seeing more solutions and conversations about bringing content and services together,” Inouye added. “This includes pay TV and OTT bundles and extends to cross-platform advertising, analytics, and customer/service management. Ultimately it makes the market more accessible to a wider range of companies and expands the potential video touch points, particularly as new technologies like 5G, smart home, and Augmented/Virtual Reality play larger roles.” 

Apple TV+ has around 33.6 million U.S. users nearly three months after launch, according to figures published by Ampere Analysis and provided to The Wall Street Journal. 

The tally, if accurate, would rank the technology company’s new streaming service ahead of Hulu, which has 31.8 million subscribers, as well as Disney+, which is pegged by the research firm at 23.8 million users. 

Speaking to Variety, Daniel Gadher, a research manager for the London-based Ampere, referred to its Apple TV+ tally as “very early-stage, initial estimates.” He also said the vast majority of Apple TV+ users aren’t paying the service’s $4.99-a-month fee and are on a promotion that provides a year of free service to those who purchase new iPhone, iPad, Macbook or other Apple gadgets. 

Related: Is It Already Too Late for Apple TV+?

Gadher didn’t elaborate on Ampere’s methodology for the 33.6 million figure. Given that Apple is projected by one analyst to sell 116 million iPhones in the first half of the fiscal year, the figure doesn’t seem all that outlandish. 

Apple TV+ (aka Apple TV Plus) launched on November 1 and currently has a limited library of 12 original titles. 

With the CTAM portion of the Television Critics Association’s 2020 winter press tour now in the books, the television industry is poised to continue its evolution, with linear networks vying with streaming services for the hearts and eyeballs of consumers.

Here are three trends that marked this year’s TCA Winter press tour presentations for cable networks and streaming services:

Streaming services stake out positions as streaming wars loom

While Netflix was absent from this year’s TCA tour and NBC unveiled its plans for its new streaming service Peacock during its investor day last week, several streaming services presenting at TCA offered a glimpse into their operating strategies as the streaming wars begin to take shape.

Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke said Amazon Prime is not phased by the increased competition among streamers, adding that they are focused on giving its Prime subscribers quality original programming, which includes Emmy-winning series such as Fleabag. HBO Max chief content officer actually lamented the phrase “streaming wars” to describe the growing competitive landscape for streaming services, adding that many of the services currently offered are providing differentiated content offerings to appeal to different tastes and audiences.

“As these services premiere and roll out ... they really are quite different,” Reilly said.

Meanwhile, Discovery Inc. may soon step into the digital streaming ring with the potential launch of an SVOD service that would curate the company’s lineup of unscripted content from such networks as HGTV, Food Network, Discovery and TLC, according to Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

RELATED: Zaslav teases potential Discovery-based streaming service

Networks, streaming services continue to increase number of lead LGBTQ characters

Several new shows will feature LGBTQ lead characters, further increasing what LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD recently reported as a noticeable increase in gay and lesbian lead characters on television.

RELATED: Diverse Images Increasing on Screen, but Viewers Want More

LGBTQ character-led shows announced at the TCA include BET’s Twenties, created and produced by Emmy-winning producer Lena Waithe which follows the exploits of a 20-something queer black girl and her two straight best friends; Freeform’s Everything is Going to Be OK, which stars Josh Thomas as a gay man who becomes the guardian of his two half-sisters; and TLC’s reality series Dragnificent!, which recruits four drag queens to rescue people in need of help. In addition, AppleTV+ will stream a documentary, Visible: Out on Television, a five-part docuseries that examines how TV has shaped the American conscience and how the LGBTQ movement has shaped television.

Scripted series still rolling out in record numbers, but cracks are forming in the "Peak TV" universe

Scripted content continued to grow at an unprecedented pace in 2019, with more than 530 scripted original dramas, comedies and limited dramas available on streaming services and broadcast and cable networks, according to FX. But while new entrants like HBO Max,  Peacock and Apple TV+ will help add to the number of scripted series, other companies are getting out of the original series game. Premium service Cinemax will no longer develop original scripted content, according to HBO Max’s Reilly. Cinemax joins AT&T’s Audience Network -- which will be re branded as an HBO Max preview channel -- as services that previously announced a complete elimination of scripted fare. Expect more services to exit the scripted series highway in the months to come. 

Apple TV+ Saturday continued its run of new series renewals in advance of their premieres with the greenlighting of a second season of comedy series Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet.

The series, which debuts on Feb. 7, is set in a video game development studio and stars Rob McElhenney, F. Murray Abraham and Imani Hakim, said the streaming service during its Television Critics Association press winter press tour session. Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet is produced by David Hornsby.

In other Apple TV+ news, the service has set a March 6 date for the reboot of Steven Spielberg’s 1980s anthology series Amazing Stories. The service will also debut it's unscripted series Home on April 17; its drama/thriller series Defending Jacob -- starring Chris Evans -- on April 24; UK-based comedy series Trying on May 1; and docu-series Dear -- from producer R.J. Cutler that will chronicle the lives of such iconic celebrities as Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder and Spike Lee -- on June 5. 

For more stories like this, visit our sister publication Next TV.