The Information on Tuesday reported that Apple is considering the development of a single subscription streaming service that would bundle access to its original TV shows, Apple Music, and digital magazines.
Such an ambitious offering would bear some similarity to Amazon’s Prime service, which spans video, music and some news. Yet it would be sharply different from many other subscription media services, which tend to be focused on one specific entertainment area. Depending on the price charged, it could give Apple a boost in its efforts to develop subscription revenue, reducing its reliance on sales of iPhone and other hardware.
The report gets its information from the ever-popular “people familiar with the company’s plans.”
Apple has been ordering a large number of television series, running the gamut from comedy to drama, but the Cupertino firm hasn’t shared as to how the shows would be distributed.
Apple’s first original programming, “Planet of the Apps” and “Carpool Karaoke: The Series” was distributed via Apple Music, the company’s music streaming service, but that wouldn’t make for a sustainable distribution platform for the content the company has in development.
The Information report says Apple will launch a digital news subscription service in 2019, which is said to combine Apple’s current “News” app with the technology used by magazine subscription service Texture, which Apple bought earlier this year.
The Texture service offers unlimited access to over 200 digital magazine titles for $9.99 per month. Publications include People, Forbes, Condé Nast Traveler, Billboard, National Geographic, Rolling Stone, Vogue, and many more.
